


Acting On Ambition

by VirgilStormWrites



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Acting, Alternate Universe, DreamSMP - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, JSchlatt gets called dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:02:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28883604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirgilStormWrites/pseuds/VirgilStormWrites
Summary: DreamSMP is a new live-action TV show, inspiration coming from SMPEarth. Dream is already a popular actor- due to his ‘Manhunt’ series- who has connections with several writers. Tommy is a new actor, only having one previous role- even then it was a minor role. What happens when the teen decides to audition in front of his role model?
Comments: 85
Kudos: 251





	1. Auditions Fucking Suck, Why Do I Go To These?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LeeforLee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeforLee/gifts), [DumbestofAsses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DumbestofAsses/gifts).



> Hello! This is another Discord work! I will be updating this once a week (at least). 
> 
> I have a Discord Server linked in another story, I might link it here later on.

Tom sighed loudly, leg bouncing mercilessly. He  _ hated _ auditions. You sit in a room for three hours, get ten minutes to give it your best, and leave all while knowing you could get a life-changing opportunity. Tom yanked on the sleeves of his jumper again. He hated auditions...

“TOM!” Tommy glanced up to see Toby, his best friend. They had known each other for a while, with both of their parents forcing them into auditions when they were younger. 

“Toby!” The other teen sat next to Tom, pulling him in for a brief hug. 

“Are you excited?” Toby asked, pulling out his phone to take a picture with his friend. The boys laughed, doing a weird pose for the photo.

“Yes, I was sent the character sheets a week ago. None of them have names yet, is that weird?” Toby had been in a few movies and television shows as extras, Tom figured he probably knew about them better than Tom did. 

“Uh, no. Sometimes they don’t want to name the characters until they have the actors. Sometimes they just don’t want to release the character’s names. Which one are you hoping to get?” Toby noticed how Tom kept messing with the hem of his jumper and gently placed a hand on his friend’s arm. 

“Honestly, character 6. The fourteen-year-old. It seems like my type of character,” Tom shrugged. 

Toby nodded, settling further into his seat before he sat upright again. “Did you hear that Technoblade might be in this?” 

“No! I- Holy shit…” Tom muttered. “I mean… he’s a cool dude.”

“A cool dude? You once said you wanted to be him!” Toby laughed. Technoblade was an actor that had worked with Tom once. The guy always had golden contacts in, died his hair bright pink, and constantly looked angry. 

“Toby! I- That was  _ years _ ago and before I met him!” Tom turned bright red, laughing nervously. 

The two boys continued talking, spilling their ideas to each other. Over the years, they had become extremely close. They even went as far as choosing shows they wanted to audition for together, their plan to work together fell through when Tom needed to stop. Tom loved working with Toby on everything, including the things he didn’t want to work on. Toby was like a brother to him. An overly supportive, annoying, sweet brother. Toby was able to help Tom through his father leaving, they stayed up that entire night playing video games and screaming songs at each other. 

As they talked, they missed the set of eyes trained on them from the front of the room. The man pushed his hair from his face, faintly recognizing the boys who were talking non-stop. At one point, they became particularly loud, yelling something about ‘Technoblade’. The man chuckled. His pink-haired friend had quite the reputation, often being referred to as ‘cold-hearted’. These boys seemed to think he was cool instead. 

“Hey, we have six people ready to audition for characters 6 and 7. The teenagers,” Dream’s voice was slightly muffled through his mask. 

“Yeah,” Wilbur cleared his throat. “I want to see…” he shuffled through the stack of papers, looking for one specific boy’s. “Him in character with Techno. I want to see if he can keep his composure. I think he’d be good for character 6.” 

Dream nodded at the actor his co-writer chose. He could work with that… he glanced at the name at the top. “Thomas Jones,” Dream muttered, reading down the file. “He was in SMPEarth?” 

“Yeah, he didn’t get much spotlight. They had him do his own thing for most of it,” Wilbur watched the two boys, noticing how they seemed to talk without opening their mouths. “His friend sitting next to him could be character 7. They fit that relationship.” 

Dream noted how the boys interacted with each other, noticing the smiles that never left their faces, the laughs that easily tumbled out. “Alright, let me get Tech. I’ll call him back in a moment.” 

“Dream,” The masked man stopped, “Don’t wear your mask in there. Act like someone on the sidelines. Text me when you’re ready, I’ll call him in.”

Dream handed Wilbur the file on Thomas, smiled, then walked into the back room. Wilbur watched Thomas more intently, watching for passion. He was mildly upset that nothing came about until the fire seemed to roar. His friend practically whispered something, watching in awe as he rambled about an unknown topic.  _ Character 6 now has a name. Tommy.  _

He was pulled from his thoughts when his phone buzzed. “Now” was all the text said. “Thomas Jones!” Wilbur yelled, making sure his voice could cut over the two boy’s laughter. “We’re ready for you!” The boy shakily stood up. Wilbur read his friend’s speech, ‘good luck’ dropped out of his mouth. Thomas walked up to Wilbur. “Hi, I’m Wilbur Soot. I’m one of the writers and an actor. Unfortunately for me, my co-writer decided it would be funny to have our character names either similar to our name… or just our legal name.” 

“I’m Thomas, most people call me Tom.” The boy allowed himself a small smile, adjusting his sleeve again. 

“Well, Tom. Today I’m going to assess how you act under pressure. You’ve read the character notes, yeah?” The teen nodded his head. “Great! Do you know character 6 well?” The boy nodded again, his smile growing. “That’s fantastic! I’d like you to interact with another one of our characters as character 6, do you think you can do that?” 

“Absolutely!” Wilbur smiled at the boy’s enthusiasm. Wilbur glanced up to see his co-writer leaning against a wall, mask off and hair pulled into a hat- something he did to hide the suspicion of who he was, with Technoblade next to him. Upon seeing the two enter, Technoblade pushed off the wall, walking to meet this possible co-worker. Wilbur barely heard the teenager mumble, “holy shit…” 

“Hi, I’m Technoblade.” The monotone voice carried across the room, crushing any confidence the boy previously had. The younger quickly adjusted himself, pushing false confidence to his face. 

“I’m Tom,” The boy shook Technoblade’s hand, slowly returning to full confidence. 

“Alright, Tech.” The pink-haired man glanced at Wilbur. “I need you to become ‘the blade’,” Technoblade nodded, adjusting his stance slightly. “And Tom, I need you to become character 6. Tech, character 6 has just stumbled upon your base. Tom, character 6 is terrified of Tech- since they barely know each other. Go.”

The two acted out the scene, Tom starting by confidently walking around a ‘room’ before Technoblade moved into the scene. “What are you doing?” 

“Hello, Techno the blade…” Tom laughed nervously, taking a step backward. 

“I asked what you were doing here, child.” Technoblade took a step toward Tom.

“I-I honestly didn’t know where I was, I’m sorry I’ll-” Tom turned on his heel, letting out a fake sigh, completely becoming the character. 

Technoblade stepped in front of him, “Listen, kid, I don’t have time for this. How did you get here?” Tom muttered out a jumble of responses, in a higher- stress-filled- pitch. 

_ Perfect! _ Wilbur glanced at Dream, the smile clear on both of their faces. Dream nodded at Wilbur. This kid was perfect for character 6. ‘TommyInnit?’ Wilbur mouthed. Dream tilted his head, causing Wilbur to grab his phone, typing the name out, and hitting send. Dream nodded excitedly then left the room. Wilbur turned his attention back to his two actors.  _ Technoblade and TommyInnit _ … It had a nice ring to it. 

Dream walked back into the room, mask replaced and hair down. Tom glanced at the new person before returning to the scene. “This kid is…”

“Character 6 but real,” Wilbur finished. 

“Could his friend be character 7?” Dream asked, turning his attention to Wilbur. 

“I would have to see him. He was more confident, I don’t think you’ll need to hide for him.” Dream nodded, gesturing to the two actors who were still deep into the scene before them. “Alright, guys. I’m going to ask you to end the scene there. This is my co-writer, Dream.” Dream saluted to Tom before leaving to get the other boy. “Dream is grabbing another actor, someone we think might fight character 7. I’d like to watch you two interact as the characters.” 

Tom smiled at the writer, watching the door intently. “We’re just going to have you run through a script we have ready. It’s the first interaction between the two,” Dream spoke, moving aside for Tom to see Toby. The boys smiled brightly at each other. Dream handed them their scripts. The two immediately got to work, reading every word on the script before nodding to each other. They glanced at the writers, waiting for instructions. “Ready?” The boys nodded, “go.” 

The boys performed the scene perfectly, not missing a detail. The characters seemed to be written for them… Wilbur couldn’t have been more impressed, couldn’t have found better people to play characters six and seven. “Tubbo,” Dream whispered- pointing at the shorter boy. 

“YES!” Wilbur whisper-yelled. “Alright, you two. I think we have what we need. We will be contacting you in about a week if you have the role or if we need you back for any reason” 

The boys smiled at Wilbur, excitement bubbling in each of them. They could hear the happiness in the writer’s voice. Tom was the first to leave, followed closely by Toby. Tom smiled as he left the audition room. 

“That may have been the easiest audition ever,” Tom mused. 

“It’s like the characters were written for us!” Toby smiled, heading toward his mother. Tom’s mom stood, seeing her son smiling instead of the usual frown that settled on his face after auditions. 

“How did it go?” Tom smiled at her.

“I think it went well!” Tom was far too used to rejection to say what Toby was discussing with him. He didn’t want to get her hopes up. “I really like the character.” 

Meanwhile, Dream and Wilbur were discussing the day's events. From which people they were definitely not going to have on the show, to which they absolutely wanted. They seemed to disagree on everything until they came up to characters 6 and 7. 

“Thomas Jones as 6, Toby Smith as 7?” Wilbur asked. 

“Absolutely. Those two just… click for the roles. It’s almost like they’re based off of the characters.” Wilbur nodded, adding the two names to the short casts list they had. “You realize you canonically fuck a fish, right? Like… that’s something we both agree upon?” 

Wilbur sighed loudly, “I guess…” 

Two weeks later, Wilbur smiled at his co-writer. “Last on the list: TommyInnit and Tubbo,” Dream picked up the last two files. They had already known which actors they wanted the moment the boys began their scene. Dream pulled his mask off, allowing Wilbur and Nick- someone they decided would be in the show before they even began creating the characters- to see his face. “Shall we?” 

Wilbur pushed the phone number listed for the first boy into his phone. The phone rang twice before a kind sounding woman picked up the phone, “Hello?” 

“Hi! Is this the parent of Toby Smith?” Wilbur asked, remembering to stay polite. 

“Yes, this is his mother.” Dream smiled, looking at the phone. “How can I help you?”

“This is Dream and Wilbur, the writers for DreamSMP-”

“Give me one moment to grab him!” The writers smiled at each other, this was by far their favourite part of the job. Hearing the reactions as people learned they were accepted onto a show, it was almost addictive. That’s why the two wrote so much. 

There was a beat of silence before they heard the teen, “Hello?” 

“Hi, Toby! This is Wilbur!” They heard shuffling on the other end.

“Hi!” The boy was out of breath like he had just ran to get to the phone.

“We have some news for you!” Toby could hear Dream’s smiled through the phone, his mother kept whispering ‘what’s he saying?’. “Welcome to the DreamSMP! Your character’s name is Tubbo!” 

The writers hear a hushed, excited conversation. “Thank you so much!” 

“We’ll have the schedule and script for you tomorrow! Just be sure to check your email,” Dream smiled at the excited whispers coming from the other side. “We start Thursday.” 

“Ok, thanks again!” Toby was smiling so hard his cheeks hurt. 

“We’ll see you Thursday!” Wilbur smiled. Dream hung up the phone. “Time for TommyInnit’s call.” 

This time, it was Dream to put the number through. The phone rang three times. “Hello?” the teen answered. 

“Hi, Tom! This is Wilbur!” Dream heard the boy stutter out another ‘hello’. “We have some good news for you.” 

Dream smiled as they heard Tom tripped over something. “Welcome to the DreamSMP, Tom. Your character is TommyInnit. We’ll send you the schedule and script tomorrow.” 

The writers heard Tom trip again and needed to suppress their laughs. “T-thanks!” 

“We start Thursday. Just keep checking your email, we’ll see you Thursday!” Dream barely held his laughs before hanging up and descending into fits of laughter. “This might be our best show yet!” Wilbur voiced his agreement, Nick laughing along with them. 

Tom sat on the ground in complete shock… he made it in? He was ripped from his thoughts by the sound of the Wii Shopping theme, Toby’s call tone. He shakily answered the phone. “Hello?”

“TOM! Have you gotten a phone call?” Tom could hear his friend’s happiness seep through the phone.

“Yeah, I just got off the phone. Have you?” Tom already knew the answer.

“YES! I got my character’s name!” Toby jumped into his bed, “I get to play Tubbo, aka character 7. They updated the character list to have all of the names!” 

“I got mine too, TommyInnit.” Tom lay on his bed, mind going over his phone call over and over. Why him? Out of all of the people to chose for this role, why the inexperienced fifteen-year-old? 

“CHARACTER 6! TOM!” Toby yelled, snapping Tom from his thoughts. The two began planning their week, how they would break the news to Mrs. Jones, what they thought the set would be like… they talked for hours about anything that would come to mind. 

The front door shut loudly, “Thomas!” His mother called from downstairs. 

“Bye Toby!” Tom quickly ended the call, darting down the stairs. “Hi, mom!” 

“Hey, Tom! You look to be in a good mood!” Tom grabbed a grocery bag from her arm, putting some of the food away for her. She eyed him wearily, he never helped unless he was asked directly to. 

“Yeah, I actually am!” Tom went through his words in his head one last time. His mother was everything to him, he wanted to make her proud. “Mom, I got a call from SMP today.” 

“Oh god, is everything ok?” She turned toward her son, expecting to see sadness. Instead, she saw a smile.

“I got one of the lead parts, mum. I got the hero’s role!” His mom smiled.

“That’s great, Tom! We’re celebrating tonight!” Tom paused as he got a message from Toby. ‘Check ur email’. And so he did. Tom had two emails from William@email.smp. “Well, open them!” 

‘Dear Thomas, 

This is a link to the script for s1e1 and 2. Studios of Minecraft Pictures address is 1569 SMP Boulevard, we are in aisle five. Also, attached is a cast list with their relation to you. For the first episodes, all you have to worry about is ‘Tubbo’ and ‘CWilbur’. We hope to see you Wednesday at the meetup. It’s not required, it’s just a way for us to get to know each other before filming. The meet up will be at 7 pm at 2146 Ingles Street (my house). I know Dream, Techno, Nick, and I will be there. I have sent Toby a similar email, the only difference being the names. I have already gotten a response saying he would attend. I hope to see you there too, gremlin child.

-Wilbur Soot

Yes, it says Wiliam, yes that is my legal name. No, you can not call me that.’

Tom laughed lightly before showing his mother the first email. After she read it, she handed the phone back to him, allowing him to open the second- much shorter- one. 

‘Dear Thomas, 

I forgot to say: to get into the studio, you need a picture ID that they provide lol

-Wilbur Soot’ 


	2. Meeting Co-Stars is Very Stressful

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj
> 
> Join the discord if you'd like! I ping for new chapters and you can see what the characters look like! (Specifically Dream, Techno, and Ranboo)

Wilbur finished tidying his house, debating whether he would vacuum his room or not… no one would be in there, was it that big of a deal? Wilbur lived with a woman just shy of a year younger than him. Since she constantly died her hair pink, she was nicknamed ‘Sally the Salmon’. Her real name was Sally Sampson, she preferred Sal. She sat with her legs draped over the side of a chair.

“So how many people are coming?” Sally stood, grabbing a book from the counter. 

“Uh, 7. Maybe 8 because of George… He might sleep through it,” Wilbur muttered, finally relaxing into his seat. 

“Alright,” Sally shifted into her seat. 

“Oh, shit!” Wilbur groaned, leaning forward. 

“What?” She asked, opening her book.

“This is gonna make me sound like a fucking creep, two of the people coming over are teenagers,” Wil muttered. Sally smirked at him.

“Fucking creep,” She laughed as a knock sounded at the door.

Wilbur slowly opened the door, face met with a white mask and a mess of black hair. “Dream, Nick!” 

“Nick, did Wil tell you how much of a creep he is?” Sally asked, poking her head over Wilbur’s shoulder. Nick shook his head, stepping into the house after Dream. 

“Oh my god, I told her that there would be teenagers here.” 

Dream and Nick broke into loud fits of laughter, Dream’s sounding more like a tea kettle than a laugh. “Fucking creep!” Dream mused between wheezes.

“I hate you,” Wilbur growled. 

“Oh c’mon,” Dream voiced, sweet as honey. 

“You love us,” Sally finished. She grabbed her coat and wallet, “later losers, I’m gonna go talk to my mother.” 

“BYE SALMON!” Dream and Nick yelled at the same time, laughing as the girl stuck her tongue out. 

“Wilbur, who all is coming?” Nick asked, adjusting the white band on his head. 

“Tom, Toby, Schlatt-” Nick groaned, “- Philza, Fundy, and maybe George.” 

“No Techno?” Nick whined. Techno was his favourite actor, no one knew why. Not even Techno. 

“No, he said he had to visit his father.” 

Tom and Toby had decided to go to the meet up together, Toby’s mom agreeing to drive them. They pulled up to a red two-story house, cars were lining the road leading up to it. Toby’s mom yelled something about them being safe before Toby shut the car door. 

Toby was the one to knock on the door. There was a beat of silence before a man they didn’t recognize opened the door. “Uh… hi?” Toby asked.

“WILBUR, THE TEENAGERS ARE HERE!” The man yelled, “Come on inside, we’ve been teasing Wil all night.” The man stepped aside, allowing the teens in. “Toby, right?” The man gestured to Toby, pulling his band off and adjusting. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m Toby, this is Tom.” Tom waved from behind Toby, nerves overpowering his voice. 

“I’m Nick,” he led the boys into a room where Wilbur, Dream, and another person sat. Wilbur looked up at the boys, a smile spreading on his face. “That’s creepy. Stop.” 

Wilbur’s smile dropped, a glare taking its place. “Shut up,” there was another knock on the front door, “Go get the door, asshat.” 

“Shut it, ashy!” Nick laughed, leaving to open the door. 

“Hi, I’m Phil. I’m the CEO of SMP, I used to be an actor but… no.” The man the boys didn’t know said, waving at them before sitting on the floor with his legs crossed. 

“I’m Toby, this is Tom.” Tom waved slightly.

“WHY DID YOU INVITE THE DRUNK GUY?” Nick yelled, pulling a strange man in a suit into the room.

“I’m not fucking drunk!” The man said, stepping through the door. 

“Schlatt, you called me ‘pandas’.” 

“In my defence: Sapnap.” That seemed to be enough for the adults to understand, leaving the two teens (and Phil, who refused to admit it) confused. Wilbur seemed to read the confusion on the boys' faces. 

“Pandas backward is sadnap, change the ‘d’ to a ‘p’, Sapnap. It’s an ongoing joke between Dream and Nick. I’m just here for the entertainment,” Wilbur rambled. 

“I’m JSchlatt, you can just call me ‘Schlatt’. I don’t know why I’m here, I’m not in this production,” The man held his hand out for one of the boys to shake. Tom decided he would, immediately catching Wilbur’s attention. 

“I’m Tom,” The two seemed to have a staring contest, Schlatt pulling away first with a frustrated yell. “This is Toby!” 

Schlatt’s demeanor seemed to bring out a competitive flare from Tom, the boy isntantly going from closed off to loud and confident. Wilbur took note of this, observing the two’s reactions to each other. They talked for a while, Tubbo speaking to Phil, about any random topic they think of. There was a brief moment of silence before a loud knock. 

“You guys realize there’s a doorbell, right?” Wilbur said, standing up. He almost gets to the door before it opens. 

“WIL! Oh, you’re right there, your son is here!” A woman’s voice called. 

“SALMON!” Dream smiles, jumping up from his seat. 

“Hey, Dreamy!” The woman walks into view, Tom immediately takes note of the pink hair that falls on her shoulders. 

“Sal, he isn’t biologically my son. Tom, Toby, this is Floris. He plays Fundy,” A small boy stepped out from behind the woman with pink hair. “Fundy is my trans furry son-”

“Quoting that!” Dream yells, grabbing his phone and typing it in. “He forgot to say that Floris is 12, playing a 14-year-old.” 

The woman began walking out of the room before stopping and staring at Schlatt, “Why’d you invite the drunk over?” 

“I’M NOT DRUNK!” Schlatt yelled. 

“Well, that would be a first-time occurrence.” The woman laughed, “to anyone who doesn’t know, I’m Sal.”

The boys awkwardly waved, Phil gently pulling them to the ground. Tom hadn’t been to a party in three years, he actively avoided them. He didn’t like being crowded, being forced into conversation, or being separated from his friends. Parties are a terrible experience, in his opinion. Toby knew this. That’s why he kept a loose grip on Tom’s arm, occasionally shifting to his back. 

Schlatt noticed the boy’s behaviour. He noticed the small glances Tom gave to everyone in the room. Almost like Tom was waiting for someone to prank him. Schlatt frowned at this realization, shifting his attention to Toby. Toby seemed to be engaged in every conversation at once, his eyes were bright. Toby constantly sweeps his eyes across the room, like he’d pounce on anyone who even looked at Tom wrong. Schlatt’s previous worries about the boys melted off of him, his frown turning into a slow smirk. 

Dream was sucked into a conversation with Sal and Floris- who had asked to be called Fundy. They weren’t completely sure what it was about. It started with Fundy exclaiming a fox fact and turned into the three (and occasionally Toby) discussing their favourite animals. Dream eventually brought up Anteaters, expecting his co-writer to immediately jump into a rant about how much he hated them and why. He looked at the man expectantly. Noticing the crooked beanie, his hair ruffled, and his legs pulled close to his chest. 

Instead of being engaged in the conversation, his attention was on his laptop. He was writing another episode. This one, they would be in a duel with Dream. His normal white mask would be changed to fit his character’s ceramic-smile mask. He pictured the duel in his head, they would start it with Dream demanding they join ‘his’ SMP- it was contractual to have SMP in the show, for this one SMP meant Survival MulitiPlayer. Of course, WilburSoot, TommyInnit, and Tubbo_ would deny. They needed the show to be interesting. Wilbur was snapped out of his furious typing by a hand being placed on his wrist. 

“What do you think, Wilbur?” Toby asked. 

“Sorry, I’ll have to admit. I was not paying attention,” Wil rubbed his eyes, wiping away the image of the battle. 

“He does this thing where he gets focused on something and can’t stop until it’s completed,” Dream laughed. Tom’s head shot up in recognition. 

“Hyperfixation.” 

“What?” Dream and Wil asked at the same time, Wil’s tone softer than Dream’s.

“It’s called hyper fixation. It’s common in people with ADHD or Autism,” Tom wrung his hands nervously. 

“Oh, that would explain why I’m the only one in my family who does that!” Wilbur laughed, trying to get everyone’s attention off of the boy. He could tell Tom was uncomfortable with the number of eyes on him. “What was the conversation about?” 

“Anteaters!” Toby exclaimed, rocking forward slightly.

“OH MY GOD, I HATE ANT EATERS!” Dream smiled as Wilbur spiraled into a deep argument about why Anteaters were horrible. “First of all! Why do they have so much fur by their butts? How much shit gets stuck there! I mean  _ literal _ shit! They eat ants and termites, and ONLY ants and termites! What sane creature looks at ants and termites and thinks ‘Mmmmm I will eat this and only this!’ Their tongues are tongues are long enough to wrap around their brains-” 

“That’s woodpeckers, Wil.” 

“FUCKING WOODPECKERS TOO!” Wilbur let out a frustrated groan, “one animal at a time, Soot! They look like off-brand skunks! They have such a basic name too!” 

“They’re adorable!” Toby smiled. 

“They look like dirty crime boys, not even good dirty crime boys. Like burn down a building and watch while the police show up crime boys!”

Dream watched everyone’s body language, he was good at reading people. He noticed Tom’s shoulders were stiff, hunched too far forward. He was too stressed for the situation. That was part of the reason he wanted Wilbur to go on his Anteater rant, it seemed to calm Tom to see other people ranting. Dream wondered if he could get Tom comfortable enough to rant like that, he wondered if he could get Tom interested enough in a conversation to actually talk without holding back. 

“-and not to mention the fact that- oh hey, Techno!” Dream’s head snapped up to meet the red eyes that stared back at him. 

“Dude, you were just… staring!” Technoblade laughed, Dream lightly pushed him away. 

“What are you doing here? Also, where are your contacts?” Dream asked, standing to stretch and grab a drink. Tom sat up quickly, finally noticing Techno’s eyes. 

“They’re red?” He half-stated. 

“Uh, yeah…” Techno nervously glanced at Dream, trying to find out if the kid was making fun of him or genuinely curious. 

“Why?” Tom asked, Toby gently smacking his arm. 

“I- uh… I was born with them red…” 

“But… why?” At this point, Fundy and Sal were trying not to laugh and Schlatt had a large grin on his face. 

“They’re just… like that?” Techno was trying to grasp the proper words.

“He’s an albino,” Wil smiled. 

“I-I don’t want-” Techno started, backing up slightly.

“THAT’S FUCKING SWEET!” Tom yelled, shocking everybody in the room. There were a few moments of silence. 

“W-what?” Techno was frozen in his spot. 

“That’s so fucking cool!” Tom was being completely genuine. 

“I know right!” Wilbur laughed, Techno finally dropping his shoulders. 

“Why do you hide it?” Tom asked, excitement clear in his eyes. 

“Uh, it’s considered a birth defect… I got made fun of for it. That’s why I use contacts. It’s also why I typically look angry. You scare people, they don’t ask about your eye colour or how you got your hair such a bright pink.” 

“May I ask why pink?” Toby asked, having been silent for a while. 

“It was a dare from my little sister. I liked it, so I kept it.” 

The boys smiled at ‘blade. “That’s fucking adorable,” Wilbur muttered. 

Dream came back into the room, holding his phone and a Monster Energy drink. “I ordered Pizza, should be here in about 20 minutes. Also, George called. He’s going to be here soon.” 

Fundy shifted in his seat, it was too quiet for his liking. “Aww, your boyfriend is coming over?” Wilbur asked. 

“Wh- he- he’s not- !” Dream stuttered, turning bright red. 

“So, he isn’t sleeping through it?” Nick interjected. 

“He was asleep, I woke him up.” Dream was still bright red but his stuttering had stopped. 

The room was deadly silent for a few minutes, Tom and Toby talking without using their voices- Tom had learned BSL, ASL, and PSE to speak with his classmates better. Toby was in the same class as him. That was how they met. In kinder, they had both taken BSL classes and became great friends because of it. 

Dream watched the two teens, completely engrossed in their silent conversation. He caught bits of it- Danielle, his little sister, had taken ASL in middle school. Tom signed something about Dream (made obvious by the way Tom pointed at him, then signed ‘dream’) but Dream couldn’t tell exactly what he said. He watched closely as the boys motioned to each person, then did a sign. They were giving sign names. 

Wilbur began writing again, using the boys' hand motions to his advantage. He could use this. He could make TommyInnit and Tubbo_’s bond stronger using this. The two could silently talk from across the room, they could speak to each other without anyone knowing what they said. 

The two writers were ripped from their thoughts by a knock on the door. Dream was the one to answer it. When the oak door was opened, he saw George and a pan in a Pizza Hut uniform. He invited George inside, paid for the pizza (making sure he gave the man a fairly large tip), and moved back to the living room. George smiled at him as he set the pizza down. 

“Tom, Toby, this is George. I think you two are the only two who haven’t met him before…” Dream trailed off. 

George quickly took in the looks of the two teens in front of him. One was messing with his sleeves, glancing at the other. George quickly realized the blonde was asking the brunette to start a conversation with the older man so that he didn’t have to. 

“I’m Toby,” The brunette supplied. “This is Tom. There are a lot of people here.”

“There are a lot of people. I thought Tech wasn’t going to be here,” George observed, the thick accent calming the teens slightly. “He’s not wearing his contacts. You look quite attractive without them.” Techno laughed nervously, bringing his hand to the back of his neck again. 

“Y’all want pizza?” Dream asked, grabbing disposable plates for the group. 

The group ate their pizza, occasionally sparking a conversation. Schlatt noted how Tom was confident with some of the others but silent with others.  _ Method actor, fucking finally!  _ He thought. For several years, he had been the only method actor in their small group. They had written parts specifically for him  _ because  _ he was a method actor. 

“Hey, kid!” The three non-adults looked at Schlatt, “Uh, Tom. You’re a method actor, aren’t you?” Tom nodded, obviously not wanting to get into it. 

“There was one time that he was cast as the villain in the school play, he got way too in character-” Toby started. 

“Connor threw ‘Holy Water’ at me,” Tom muttered, shivering at the memory. 

“That’s fucking sweet,” Schlatt smiled. A genuine smile. Wilbur and Dream looked at him like he was crazy, quickly tearing their eyes away when Schlatt looked at them.

“Uh, my mom just texted. She’s here,” Fundy muttered. It was the first thing Tom heard Fundy say, his voice seemed higher than a normal 14-year-old boy. Tom remembered Wilbur saying ‘Trans furry son’ and noted Fundy was probably trans as well. 

“Ok, Fundy. Don’t forget-” Wilbur started.

“Eight hours and no more than that. I know, dad.” Fundy joked, confirming Tom’s suspicions. 

“Fundy!” Tom yelled, making everyone look at him. “You pass, dude.” 

The boys smiled at each other, Wilbur smiling as well. Toby looked at Tom completely lost. It took him a moment before recognition was clear on his face. He nodded fervently, causing Fundy’s smile to grow. The twelve-year-old hesitantly left, muttering good-byes to everyone. 

“So, do you boys only know BSL? I’m learning PSE,” George smiled. 

“Uh,” Tom looked panicked. 

“Relax, the people here who actually understand ASL, BSL, or PSE don’t know how to pay attention.” Wilbur smiled.

“Either that or they sleep through everything,” Dream laughed. 

“Tom knows ASL, BSL, and PSE. I only know PSE,” Toby mumbled, Tom was still stiff. Wilbur nodded, typing something into his laptop. 

“Do you two mind if I have your characters sign to each other?” He asked, glancing up from his laptop. The two shook their heads.  _ Why would he need our permission for that? It’s his show… _ Tom thought. 

The next three hours were filled with gentle chatter, Schlatt watching the teens' body language, and laughter. Dream had been planning plot the entire time, based on everyone’s interactions. Dream made plot, Wilbur made script. That was how they worked best. That was how the two were able to make such interesting television shows. Dream had the plot figured out up until- and past- if they had a season two. He didn’t need to write his thoughts down right when they came, he could write them later. He didn’t need the exact words, only paraphrasing. 

The current conversation topic was the date at which frosting might go bad. Wil insisted it was only safe for a few months, Toby saying a year- at most, Tom said it didn’t go bad unless opened, and Schlatt was being unusually quiet. 

“Why don’t you just look it up?” Dream finally asked. The others made loud noises of agreement. Dream decided to google it, “Google says ‘if frosting is unopened, it can last 12-18 months. It is usually still safe to use after then.’” 

Toby looked down at his phone as it vibrated, “My mom will be here to pick me and Tom up in ten minutes.” 

Tom and Toby both frowned. Schlatt smiled at the younger boys, “I had a lot of fun tonight!” The boys smiled at him, watching as he stood up and left. They sat for another few minutes, conversing about the show. Toby’s phone buzzed again. 

“My mom’s here. Bye, guys!” The boys stood up, leaving slowly. Neither of them  _ wanted _ to leave.

After they were gone, Dream turned to Wilbur. “This might be our best show yet.” 

Wilbur smirked, “I think it will be.” 


	3. Scars and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of this story:  
> Jumper- no hood, no zip  
> Sweater-jumper but knitted  
> Sweatshirt- jumper with hood  
> Jacket- sweatshirt with zip  
> Coat- Heavy jacket  
> From this point on, there will be mentions and allusions to self-harm. It is important to the plot. The person is in recovery. Please be careful with your reading <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JOIN THE DISCORD PLEASE!!  
> Actor-nap, Actor-blade, Dream, Barron, and soon Purpled will be in there! Just-   
> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj

Being a single mother, Janine spent most of her day cooking, working, or sleeping. Unfortunately for her son, today she was doing the second. Her boss was a total jerk and called her in at 4 in the morning. He threatened to fire her if she didn’t show up. 

So, forgetting that her son was starting work at a studio that was a 5-minute drive- but a twenty-minute walk- away, she went in. She scrambled to write a quick ‘had to work, love you’ before darting out the door. This meant that at 9 am, Tom woke up to an empty house. His arms itched more when he was stressed. He raked his fingers up and down as he called Toby. 

“Hello?” Toby answered after three rings. Tom couldn’t respond, the panic that had buried itself in his chest caused him to only let out a choked breath. “Tom, I need you to breathe. I’m right here, you’re alright. Breathe for me.” 

Toby could hear his friend taking deep, shuddering breaths. He continued to mutter calming statements until the breathing on the other side of the phone was even. Toby knew his friend often woke up to nightmares, occasionally he would call Toby to calm down. 

“Tom, what’s wrong? Nightmare?” He made sure to keep his voice soft and calm. 

“And more,” Tom muttered. “Mom was called into work, I don’t have a way to get to the studio. I don’t have a way to contact Wilbur either.” 

Toby took a deep breath, “I’ll call him. You take a shower, relax a moment. He’ll understand.” 

Tom nodded, muttering a goodbye and hanging up. He took his time in the shower, scrubbing every bad thought away. When he finished with his shower, he glanced at his phone. He had a new text from Toby.  _ Received:10 minutes ago, Toby: Wilbur will be at your house in about 15 min.  _ Tom sighed, he had less than 5 minutes to get ready. 

He was completely ready, except for a jacket. He glanced down at his arms and frowned. The scars were glaring back at him. He couldn’t let them know yet, he needed to find his jacket. There was a knock at his front door. Without thinking, he opened the door. 

“Hey, Wilbur. I can’t find my jacket,” Tom muttered. Wilbur took in the teen’s appearance. Tom’s hair was fairly neat but had obviously been carded through. Wilbur wondered if the jacket was the only thing on the teen’s mind. 

“I’ll help,” the older muttered. Wilbur looked at the extremely organized house.  _ How could he lose a jacket here? _ Wilbur glanced at the coat rack to his right, spotting the grey jacket. He carefully picked it up. “Is this it?” Tom smiled at the older. 

“Yeah, sorry. Object impermanence sucks sometimes,” Tom reached for the jacket, barely missing the way Wilbur’s smile dropped. The older gently grabbed the teenager’s arm. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for the younger. His mind was moving so fast yet he couldn’t think anything but ‘no, he can’t know now’. 

Wilbur took a moment to think through his next words. He didn’t want to scare the boy but he needed him to know. “Tom…” Wilbur glanced up to the younger, noticing the tears just beginning to fall. Wilbur cleared his throat, “Do you want me to tell Dream?” The younger shook his head violently. “Alright,” Wilbur finally released the boy’s arm, carefully handing him the jacket. “Can I give you a hug?” 

Tom glanced up at the writer, slowly nodding. “You aren’t... mad?” 

Wilbur carefully took the younger into a hug. “No, Toms. I’m not mad.” 

This seemed to make the small teen cry harder into the older’s chest. Wilbur held him close, rubbing small circles into his back.  _ No matter what,  _ Wilbur thought  _ I will not be the first to let go.  _ Slowly, Tom pulled away. 

“Thanks, Wilby.” 

Wilbur smirked, “did you just-?”  
“SHUT UP!” Tom yelled. Wilbur laughed loudly, noticing the smile that threatened to climb on Tom’s face. 

The two walked out to Wilbur’s car, both still smiling. Wilbur got in the car first, slowly pulling out of Tom’s driveway, “I can tell Dream that your character needs to wear long sleeves if you’d like.” 

Tom slowly nodded, “y-yeah, that would be nice.” 

Wilbur began planning out anything that might need to change to keep Tom comfortable, making the rest of the drive silent. They arrived on set after making Tom’s ID. Wilbur immediately left to find his co-writer. 

Toby walked up to the other teen, a small smile on his face. He took the boy into a hug without a second thought. He knew the nightmares were hard to get through, plus the added stress of his mother being called in… the day definitely didn’t start well. 

“He saw my scars,” Tom whispered. Toby stiffened slightly.

“Did he say anything?” 

“He asked if I wanted Dream to change my character’s costume to long sleeves,” Toby relaxed, nodding into Tom’s shoulder. 

"Good, that's good," Toby muttered, pulling away from his friend. Nobody blinked twice at the boys, they had known each other for a while now. 

Wilbur walked up to the two, "Hey, Toby. Have you seen Dream? I need to talk to him about last-minute set changes."

"He's with Technoblade," Toby smiled. 

"Thanks," with that, the older left toward Technoblade's trailer. He knocked on the door, being met by Dream's mask. "Hey, D. I need to talk to you about set changes."

Dream looked at his co-writer confused. They had already agreed on everything, why change it now? Dream nodded and followed Wilbur to the Brit's desk on set. 

"We need to keep the set uh… five? Degrees cooler and Tom needs to wear long sleeves. I'd also like to add cooling properties to 'Netherite Armour' and make it cover up to the wrist." Wilbur pointed at the design attempts on the desk, taking the drafts and carefully elongating the sleeves.

Dream nodded at his co-writer, taking note of his panic and wording. "Do you want all of us to have long sleeves or just Tom? All sets of Netherite, or just a few?"

"Uh, it might be… not all of us, but more of us. A-and all."

"I can change the opposing uniforms to have long sleeves- we really need a name for that. When we make the set cooler, I'll need to wear a sweatshirt instead of the T we planned on. I have a lime one in my car," Dream snapped into planning. 

"That would work, thanks D." The blonde smiled, writing down a list of things that would need to change. Wilbur quickly left to find the teenager they changed everything for and his costume. The costume was easier to find than the gremlin himself but the writer managed to gather the boy in less than five minutes. 

"Hey, Wilbur." Toby smiled at him, "can I give you a hug?" 

The writer faltered slightly. "Toby is a very affectionate person," Tom smirked. 

Wilbur nodded, accepting the hug. "Thank you," Toby whispered. The writer thought he imagined it until Toby pulled away and smiled at him with a slight shine on his eyes. 

Wilbur cleared his throat, "we're making the set cooler and I have your costume modified. We had a long sleeve version already so we just switched it out." 

"Thanks, Wil." Tom smiled, following Wilbur. The three walked into what looked to be a warehouse. On the inside, there were several sets seemingly ready for film. Tom could see people running from set to set. He spotted Dream, Nick, and George standing on a set together along with two people he didn’t know. 

“Wil!” George yelled, motioning him over. Tom went to leave but was dragged along by the older. The two unknown people stared at Tom expectantly. 

“Tom, this is Eret and Luke.” Wilbur pointed at each accordingly. Eret smiled brightly, while Luke awkwardly waved. “What’s up, Groggy?” 

George muttered something, then pointed at Luke. “I-is it possible for-”

“Yes, sorry. I thought Dream would’ve told you,” Wilbur answered, he seemed to be able to read people’s minds. Luke looked at him confused, “Tom was having a similar issue. We’re making the needed adjustments now.” 

Luke looked at the boy in shock. Tom was staring at his feet. “Hey,” Tom looked up at Luke, “walk with me a moment?” Tom glanced at Wilbur.

“I was bringing you to meet Luke, I didn’t actually know where he was.” The boy nodded and began following Luke. He took his time looking at the man in front of him. He had blonde hair that barely curled by his ears, striking blue eyes, and wore a white sweatshirt with black stripes down the arms. 

Luke opened the door to a trailer, inviting Tom inside. “Can I see your arms?” Luke’s voice sounded like gentle rivers. It wasn’t entirely sweet but it wouldn’t drown you. 

“I- uh,” Luke carefully pulled up the younger’s sleeves. Tom froze as he felt cold fingers run across his scars. 

“These are all healed,” Luke mumbled to himself. “I’m proud of you. Not many people can get to this point, yet you have. Can I give you a hug?”

Tom faltered slightly, nodding. “Why does everyone here ask first?” 

“We all believe you should ask before touching people. It’s weird to just… touch. What if that person isn’t comfortable with touch?” Tom nodded, pulling away from the hug. 

“I appreciate that. There aren’t many who would actually think about it that way,” Luke smiled at the boy. They sat silently for a few moments before Tom’s attention was ripped away, “BEE!” Tom exclaimed, pointing at the picture as Luke laughed. “Sorry, Toby is obsessed with bees. They’re his favourite animal. 

“I haven’t met Toby yet… we have some bees on set, my character is a beekeeper. Do you think he’d be comfortable enough to meet the bees? I have one named ‘Beesus’.” 

Tom nodded fervently, excited about the possibility of hearing Toby rant about bees. The two left to find the third, talking about their roles along the way. Toby was talking to another teenager. “Tom! This is Grayson,” Toby smiled at his friend. 

“This is Luke,” Tom smiled. 

“Do you want to see the bees?” Luke was practically jumping with excitement. “I’m supposed to take them out and find the queen before the shot, I have the honey clip for her.” 

Toby seemed to understand what Luke was saying, joining in on his excitement. The group of four ran to the back, almost running into Dream and Wilbur. “Where-” 

“BEES!” Toby yelled, turning slightly but refusing to stop. 

Dream and Wilbur began following the group, recognizing the warning signs of the hive… Wilbur was terrified of bees. The slight hum from the hive grew louder and more melodic as they approached. There were a few suits and supplies near it. 

“If you don’t like bees, I would suggest putting on a suit.” Luke gestured to the suits and grabbed a smoker, “Toby, can you spray this at the hive? It’ll keep them calm.” 

Wilbur grabbed a suit and quickly put it on, making Tom laugh. Toby was gently spraying smoke at the hive, making sure he didn’t hurt any of the bees. Tom was directly next to Toby when bees began landing on him. 

“Bees are attracted to the colour blue,” Toby smiled, pointing to his friend’s shirt. “And purple.” 

Tom glanced at Grayson, who was frantically pulling off his sweatshirt. “Are you afraid of bees?” 

“Not really, but I would prefer to keep them from landing on me.” 

Tom nodded, taking note of everyone’s reaction to the insects. He saw Dream gently pull a bee from his mask and helped him remove the several bees that began swarming him. 

“You found the queen!” Dream placed the bee in Luke’s hand, who moved her to a small clip. “We have to keep her in here until we film.” 

“Honey bees flap their wings 230 beats per second!” Toby smiled. 

“Bees have five eyes,” Dream muttered. 

Toby and Luke began talking about the keeping of bees- how they sleep when they eat, how the queen becomes the queen, the way they pollinate. Tom watched his friends with a small smile. He was glad Toby was comfortable enough to rant, the spark in his eye was refreshing. Tom was used to his mother’s tired smile, the glaze over her eyes when she talked. The smiles they had were so different. 

Toby glanced at Tom, noticing the complete attention of the boy being on him. Toby knew Tom couldn’t go out often. He didn’t see many people other than his mother and Toby. He didn’t make friends easily. Toby also knew his friend was horrible with new people. Tom had issues expressing the proper emotions or saying the right words. 

“Tom, what would you name a country?” Wilbur suddenly asks. 

“Where is it, what’s in it, who’s in it?” Tom asked, glancing at Toby nervously. 

“It’s the country that our characters are creating. At the time we’re creating it, there’s nothing in it and there’s only TommyInnit, Tubbo, and WilburSoot. No American’s allowed,” Wil joked.

“Uh, Manberg.” Tom smiled, “wait, no. We need to make it more… European. L’Manberg!” 

Wilbur smiled brightly, “L’Manberg is perfect. Toby, can you help me and Fundy create a flag for it?” He nearly yelled. Toby smiled and nodded. “This is going to be great!” 

“Wil, calm down!” Dream laughed. 

“Right, sorry. Home home…” 

“What’s home home?” Tom asked. Dream smiled at the realization that he was opening up more. The boy was smiling more, talking more, and putting himself in more conversations. Everything about him was… more. 

Wilbur gasped, “I will show you! But first! Fundy, stop there. Bees!” 

Fundy stopped moving, turned on his heel and left. “NO THANK YOU!”

Wilbur, Dream, Tom, and Grayson followed the boy while Toby and Luke continued taking care of the bees. Wilbur and Fundy were excitedly talking about the flag's possible design while heading toward Technoblade- the group had decided he was the next target for bee facts and design flaws. Grayson rubbed his eyes carefully, they burned slightly. 

“You shouldn’t keep contacts in for that long,” Techno spoke from behind them. 

“JEEZ- when did you get behind us?” Dream jumped. 

“I’ve been standing here this whole time. You need to either take the contacts out for a while or… I have contact solution in my room. Although, with these guys, I would suggest the first option.” Technoblade smiled, raising his head for the first time during the whole conversation, showing off his striking red eyes. 

“Which one of us are you talking to?” Tom asked.

“Tom, you’re an idiot sometimes.” Dream sighed, earning him a smack from Wil “I-in the good way, in the good way!” 

Grayson rubbed his eyes again, “stop, stop. You’re going to hurt yourself doing that,” Techno gently pulled the boy’s hands away, noticing the minor wince that left Tom’s mouth after he spoke.  _ Shit,  _ “The contacts will hurt more the longer you keep them in, rubbing them could dislodge them.  _ Please _ take them out. If you’re worried about these guys, don’t be. They’d get excited over it.”

Grayson shifted slightly, “I need my hands to take them out…” Techno let go of the boy’s hands, allowing himself a small smile. Grayson lifted his hands to his eyes, carefully removed the contacts, and blinked a few times. His eyes watered slightly. “It feels like my eyes are burning.” 

Dream smiled, grabbing a small bottle of solution from his bag. “I always carry one of these around. Wil used to wear contacts every day, he never took care of them.” Grayson looked up at Dream, “Your eyes are…” The younger tensed. “Beautiful, but in a masculine way.” 

“T-thanks?” 

Tom looked up at the other teen, “PURPLE! OH MY- They are truly beautiful. I could see myself getting lost in them easily. You should keep the contacts out.”

“PURPLED! That’s your character’s name now. Official. Dream doesn’t get a say in this one,” Dream nodded. Purpled was a great name for the character. After all, he would wear a purple sweatshirt, black jeans, and purple shoes. 


	4. After Filming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to join the discord! I have decided that none of the characters look as they do in Canon! 
> 
> I recently drew Wilbur! 
> 
> Next, I will be drawing Eret and Toby!
> 
> Discord link is at the end!

Season one of DreamSMP filming has finished, just in time to air… and for Tommy to go back to school. Season one ended on a cliffhanger, with Wilbur Soot announcing he would run for president rather than just proclaiming himself so. SMP loved the way it ended. They would decide if they wanted a season two after the third episode aired. They would see how the viewers reacted. 

Tom grabbed his bag, stuffing the last book in it before darting down the stairs. He had twenty minutes before Wilbur and Toby (who they had begun calling Tubbo all the time) would arrive to pick him up. The boy shoved a jacket over his shoulders, he was always laughed at for the faint white lines that were scattered on his arms. 

“Thomas!” Janine yelled, “Wil’s here early!” 

Tom smiled and ran down the stairs. He skipped the last step, hugging his friends. “TUBBO! WIL!” 

Wilbur smiled, gently hugging the boy back. “Tom, we got you something. I know you have a hard time getting O.O.C., so…” He held out a blue jumper. “Blue! Schlatt picked it out. He said having a set colour for each show helps him remember when he’s him!” 

Tom’s smile grew, “Thanks, Wil.” The boy put the jumper on. 

“Let’s go!” Tubbo laughed, pulling Tom out of the room. 

The drive to Tom’s school was loud, filled with laughter and music. When they pulled up to the school, they muttered their good-bye’s. The boys didn’t actually want to leave the car and Wilbur didn’t want them to leave. Tom reluctantly shut the door, his blue jumper replacing his grey jacket. 

“Toby!” One of the popular kids yelled, “I watched your new TV show last night! It’s really good.” 

“Oh, uh… thanks.” Tubbo laughed nervously, “Tom’s actually the star of it…” 

“He wasn’t even that big of a part, though?” The girl tilts her head expectantly. 

“In the first episode,” Tubbo smiled. “Next episode is going to be completely focused on Tom!” 

The girl rolled her eyes, “Tubbo, it’s-”

“He doesn’t even call you by your real name,” she scoffed. 

Tom pulled the older away from the girl, “if this happens again, please don’t try to help me…” 

Tubbo nodded slowly, “Sorry.” 

They had a few minutes before class, so they roamed the halls and discussed their show with each other. Specifically, how many people from school they thought watched the show. Of course, episode one was just a brief introduction of everyone and Dream building the ‘Community House’. It was almost hard for the boys to remember that far back, it had been eighty-nine days since they started episode one’s filming. 

Tom walked into his first class, maths. The teacher was fairly monotone, Tom had to remind himself to not call the man ‘Techno’. Tubbo’s first class was directly across the hall, Earth Science. His teacher wore a bright green sweater that eerily reminded the boy of Dream. Tubbo’s teacher blatantly said ‘I watch a lot of SMP’ while staring Tubbo down. 

Their second class only seemed to taunt them further. Their summer was _so_ fun… why did it have to end so soon? The boys were ecstatic to see they shared a class. It was English- Tom’s favourite class. He loved writing and escaping into new worlds, he just… couldn’t get the proper words. 

The class was about halfway done when there was a knock on the door. The teacher called for whoever it was to enter, “Ms. Mackie? Sorry to interrupt, we have a new student. This is his first year in the district.” 

“Oh, that’s alright! We were just writing a brief introduction of ourselves. Why don’t you take the seat next to Tom?” The young teacher smiled. 

Tom glanced up, pausing the moment he made eye contact. “TOMMY!” 

“GRAY!” The boys smiled, making Tubbo glance up. 

“Grayson, I didn’t know you transferred!” The teacher cleared her throat. 

“You three know each other?” She asked sweetly, smiling as the boy took his seat. 

“Yeah! We worked on a show together,” Grayson rubbed his eyes. 

Tom, Tubbo, and Grayson worked on their writings in silence. The prompt on the board called out to them: What would you rather be doing right now? Ms.Mackie had made a joke about no one liking school when she wrote it. She had explained that they were to write as if they were already there.

Tubbo wrote about a beehive in a cave. He described the interior of the cold area, the way the light barely bounced from wall to wall. He wrote about the queen being gently placed in a honey clip so she wouldn’t be hurt, the workers swarming around her. 

Grayson wrote about his friends. He wrote about boys who would dress in revolutionary clothing and a half-fox. He wrote about a teen boy (coincidentally named Tommy) who was loud with him, then near-silent when alone. Grayson through the summer had been watching their body language. He was easily able to spot the way TommyInnit always wore long sleeves… even in 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Tom wrote about a home in the meadows. He wrote about a man and a woman chasing each other, laughing. He didn’t write about where _he_ wanted to be, he wrote about where he wanted _his mother_ to be. He didn’t care where he was, he just wanted her to be happy again. He wanted to see her smile again. 

“Times up,” Ms. Mackie called. “Would anyone like to share their stories?” The room went silent. “No? Then… Toby!” The boy looked up. “Where would you rather be?” 

Tubbo smiled, “Yeah!” He cleared his throat and began reading. 

‘There’s a slight hum in the warm summer air. Blue and purple flowers are scattered around the entrance of a small cave. The light bounces, lighting up the small room inside. There are a few people inside, a teenager and his mentor. They talk for hours on end, discussing how to properly care for the small creatures inside. The buzz grows louder as you enter the cave. The insects fly around the room, ignoring anyone who entered. Their only focus is their queen, who lies in a small clip made of honeycomb. The humans weren’t finished moving her yet, it wouldn’t be safe to let her free. The mentor was smiling at his student, watching as he carefully pooled smoke around the cave.’

Tubbo glanced up at the teacher, showing he was done speaking. “Wow, Toby. Well-spoken. Do you write often?” 

“No, I can’t really… the letters move a lot,” Tubbo glanced down at his hands. He always got nervous talking about his dyslexia. He wished he was back at the studio, where he could joke about it. 

“Alright… Tom, would you like to share?” The boy shook his head, watching Grayson rub his eyes again. “Are you sure?” 

“I don’t read out loud well,” Tom muttered. The teacher called on another student, allowing the group of three a moment to relax before they have lunch. 

The next student wrote about sitting in front of a computer playing a game all day, going into detail about the game called ‘Don’t Take This Risk’. Tom had to ask to excuse himself halfway through the writing. 

The rest of the day went by smoothly, their English teacher only asking one more question (“Are you three on DreamSMP?”). At lunch, Tubbo was able to make Tom laugh. Not his drawn back to laugh, his near _cackle_. It was odd even for him to be that loud. The boys were walking out the door- Tom texting Wilbur, asking if he could pick the three up- when they were approached by a more popular student. 

“Toby!” The three turned quickly, “why are you hanging out with these nerds? We’re having a party later-”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call my close friends nerds. They’re smart, creative people who make me smile daily. We already have plans for tonight. Grayson, stop rubbing your eyes.” 

Tom laughed, pulling a bottle of solution from his bag (a habit he had picked up from Dream after watching Grayson and Techno mess with theirs so often). “You should probably carry one of these yourself.”

“Whatever,” the teen scoffed, pushing past Tubbo and knocking into Grayson. The bump caused Grayson to touch the bottle to his eye, letting out a small wince. 

“I have to take them out now,” He muttered. Tubbo glared at the teen, carefully shielding Grayson from his eyes.

Unfortunately, Tubbo didn't notice Ian- another popular student- behind him. "Dude, what the fuck? Why are your eyes purple? You fucking freak." The boys whipped around to face him, “Why are they purple, freak?” 

“Boys!” Ms. Mackie called, “How many times do I have to get after you before you learn?” 

Just as the teacher was yelling at Ian, a small car pulled up. “Hey, little shits!” Tom turned to the voice, comically slow. 

“Sally…” He growled, a smile growing on his face. 

Wilbur smiled from the driver’s seat, “Wow Sal gets a greeting before I do? Sal, what did you give these kids?”

Tom laughed loudly, pulling Tubbo and Grayson over to the car. “Hey, Mackie!” Sally yelled. The teacher glanced over to the girl in the front seat. “Are we still on for our date tomorrow?” The teacher turned bright red, smiling and nodding to Sally’s words, “I love that little muffin head... WHAT DID BAD DO TO ME?” 

The group laughed loudly, pulling away from the school. They were heading to SMP for final touches on next week’s episode- sure, they could do all the filming during the summer, but the editing? That needed to be done during the school year. 

“So, Tom… have you said the line at school yet?” Tom looked at Wilbur, a shark-like grin spreading on his face. 

“I’m waiting until the episode airs,” Grayson and Tubbo looked at Tom.

“Oh no… Tom… Our History teacher watches…” Tubbo whispered, pure horror flooding his voice.

“I know,” Tom chuckled, opening the car door.

“I see why your classmate threw Holy Water at you,” Wilbur mumbled.

“HEY!” Tom yelled.

“One more thing, Tom. If that kid bugs you again, tell me.” 

“Why? What’ll you do?” Tom asked as the writer placed his hands on the teen’s shoulder. 

“No need to worry about that… Now, off to the editing room!” Wilbur yelled. 

The teens broke away from Wilbur and Sal, knowing they weren't needed in the editing room and- to quote Tom’s text- ‘editing is boring af’. They decided to visit the beehive since Tubbo practically begged them to. As they approached, Tubbo noticed the small group of people standing next to the hive. He immediately recognized Schlatt, Fundy, and Niki. 

“Tubbo! This is Barron!” Fundy smiled, pulling his friends over to the beehive and introducing them to a boy standing at the hive. He had dark skin, with light patches all over, deep brown eyes, and short hair. He wore a yellow shirt and jeans. He was scooping bees out by the handful- something no one on set was brave enough to do. 

“Hi,” Barron awkwardly waved a handful of bees at them, then set the insects in a bin. 

“Barron, I can help you find the queen if you’d like?” Tubbo stepped forward, waiting for confirmation. Once he got the nod, he began digging his hands through the hive. He had gotten good at dodging the angry bees over the summer. 

“How’s school going for ya, Tom?” Schlatt asked, moving toward the boy. Tom shrugged, pulling his sleeves down over his palms.

“He almost got into a fight at the end of the day,” Grayson smirked.

“If that pissbaby would’ve kept talking, I would probably be in detention right now.” 

“What happened?” Schlatt walked the boys away from the hive… he didn’t like bees. 

“Ian- an arse at school- started making fun of Grayson’s eyes and called him a freak,” Tom muttered. He was clearly angry but he seemed too tired to act on it. 

Schlatt hummed, turning to Grayson. He hadn’t seen Grayson’s eyes yet, when he turned he was surprised, to say the least. The boy cowered slightly- Schlatt had a reputation for being an inconsiderate arse. 

“You look good, kid. Don’t let assholes at school get you down,” Schlatt smirked at the boy’s shocked expression. “And if they come near you again, tell them Schlatt is prepared to cut their nut sacks off.” Tom hardly kept a laugh in but continued to walk somewhat straight-faced. 

Tubbo and Barron ran to catch up to the three, “Barron’s just been stung!” 

The boy glanced upward, “I-it’s not that bad.” 

Tom sat the boy down, “We have rules here-” That was a lie. There were no rules about handling the bees other than ‘if you get stung, it’s your fault’ and ‘put those fuckers back’. “One of which is that we tell others if we’re hurt-” Wait… yeah that’s a rule. Not a studio rule, a friendship rule. “Even if it’s a small wound. So, where were you stung?” 

Barron held out his arm, enduring the three minutes of Tom and Tubbo asking him questions (‘Does your throat feel puffy?’ was asked four times). Finally, the two let him up but only after Barron promised to tell them the next time he was stung. 

“Alright, alright. Let the poor kid up. It’s a fucking bee sting, not an amputation.” Schlatt scoffed. 

Dream waltzed up to the group, slightly wheezing. “Schlatt, that’s not- you can’t say that-” Dream wheezed again. 

“Well, that’s fucked.” 

“LANGUAGE!” Another actor- ‘Bad’- yelled from across the studio. 

“How the fu-” 

“LANGUAGE!” Bad yelled, moving closer. Schlatt took a step backward. 

“How can he hear me?” Schlatt looked at Bad with fear in his eyes, causing Tom to fall to the ground. 

“I’m not sure, BBH is always there to commend us…” Dream muttered, lowering his voice to an almost silent whisper. “ _Fuck_!” 

“LANGUAGE!” Bad yelled from directly behind Dream. The latter jumped, making Tubbo burst into laughter. 

Tom was practically rolling on the ground, laughing harder than he had in months. It was almost obnoxiously loud but it still brought a smile to everyone’s face. When Tom finally stopped wheezing, he was nearly crying. Tubbo was still chuckling lightly, Grayson smiling, Dream and Schlatt were arguing about an aspect of editing that the teens decided to block out. 

“I need to go,” Barron said, standing from his spot on the floor. “My mother’s here to pick me up.” 

“Oh, alright! Do you mind if I follow you over there?” Tubbo asked. “I’d like to speak with you more about bees and make sure you get there safely.” 

“Sure!” Barron smiled, pulling his phone out to message his mother. He turned to Tom. “Do you mind if I introduce you to her? She’s a huge fan of you and Dream. You’re the only two she knows by name…” 

The group of seven walked over to the only car in the guest parking, immediately being met with a little girl with braided hair running out toward them. “Hello! I’m Sydney!” 

“Hello, Sydney! I’m Toby but my friends call me Tubbo!” The little girl smiled, pulling Tubbo down and handing him a small pin.   
“Momma said you like bees in the show! You talk funny!” She laughed. Tubbo opened his hand to see a small bee, barely the size of a coin. 

“Sydney!” A middle-aged woman scolded from the front seat, “I’m so sorry about her.” 

“Oh, it’s fine!” Tubbo smiled. 

“It’s quite adorable, actually,” Tom muttered. The woman let out a small gasp before ushering her daughter into the car.

“I’m so sorry, I would love to talk to you all-” She laughed nervously, “but we’re late… we were supposed to meet their grandfather at 15:00…” 

“Oh, that’s alright! I’m sure we’ll have another time to chat, especially if Barron keeps watching over the bees!” Dream smiled. 

Barron’s mother became visibly flustered and laughed again, “yeah!” They got into their car and left, with only a quick good-bye. 

“Is it always like that?” Tom asked. 

“Like what?” Eret asked, walking up behind them. Eret was wearing a dress, which mildly confused Tom. 

“That… awkward,” the group nodded at him. “When did you get here?” 

“They’ve been here for a while,” Schlatt answered, seeing the gears spin in Tom’s head. 

“Alright…” Tom diverted his attention to the ground as they began walking back. _Didn’t they refer to Eret as ‘he’ earlier? Would it be rude to ask? Would Eret get mad? Would it be homophobic to use false pronouns in my head?_

“Just ask. Eret wouldn’t mind. In fact, Eret would be happy to answer that question.” Schlatt whispered from next to him. Tom nodded and began thinking of the proper way to phrase the question. 

“Hey, Eret. Can I ask you a question?” Eret turned to Tom, smiling. “What pronouns do you use?” 

Eret’s smile grew, “I use any pronouns! Thank you for asking!” Tom let out a breath of relief, “If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!” 

“May I ask why you are wearing a dress? It looks great on you, I’m just confused…” Tubbo tilted his head like a puppy. 

“Fuck gender roles, dude. Fuck gender roles. Anyone can wear a dress and whatever the fuck they want,” Eret smiled. Tubbo and Tom glanced at each other, smiling wide.

“Would heels or platforms be a good gift for you?” Tom asked. Eret nodded fervently, watching as Tom pulled out his phone and messaged someone. 

“Eret is really cool, she’s a great actor and he’s great at helping people out of their shells!” Dream smiled, “That’s partially why they had so many scenes with you, Tom! Also because it fits your characters!” 

Tom knew that Dream was using as many different pronouns as he could to help Tom get used to them. Tom always remembered things better when they were repeated, so hearing ‘she’, ‘he’, and ‘they’ in reference to one person was great for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj
> 
> Feel free to join!


	5. The Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW//Self Harm, Mentions of Vomit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys… we don’t have much plot for season 1, only at the end of season 2… season 3 is where it gets good. Just wait. Also, I can’t live without at least a little bit of angst.  
> Don't worry there is fluff at the end.

TW FOR SELF HARM 

“I think Stephen King is afraid of monkeys. Also, we missed a scene for one of the last episodes,” Wilbur muttered. Wilbur and Dream were in the editing room. There were only five episodes left to air, three to edit. “We were super tired that night, so we didn’t film it.” 

“Ok but it’s literally 19:00. Don’t the teens have school tomorrow? And wouldn’t they be eating?” Dream asked. “Also, what do you mean Stephen King is afraid of monkeys?” The un-masked masked man leaned back, stretching. 

“We won’t be filming that late, it’s one scene. That’s why we would text them first. How many of his books deal with monkeys killing people?” Wilbur answered, grabbing his phone to message the actors he would need. 

“That’s fair,” Dream mumbled. “Do you want me to pick them up?” 

“Uh, Tubbo’s mom is driving him and Tom, but Grayson needs a ride. Can you grab Fundy?” Dream nodded then left. They were both tired and wanted to get this done as soon as possible.  
When Fundy walked in, Wilbur quickly explained what they needed to do. They needed to write a decree of independence for L’Manburg. Fundy was there to make sure Wilbur was in character. The two were so focused they didn’t hear Dream enter the room, with the teens following close behind. 

“What do you have so far?” Wilbur jumped, shouting profanities. 

“Language,” Bad yawned. 

“Uh, so far we have the witness page, signed by page and ‘As we gaze upon the swaths of redwood trees. The great hills to our south and the walls that have

protected for years’ and that’s it…” 

“You should just say ‘suck it green boy’, that would be super fucking funny-”

“And oddly in character, Tom…” Dream muttered.

“I, as the now president of L’Manburg, hereby state: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SUCK IT GREEN BOYYYYYYYYYYY.’ New page… ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Freedom. ‘ End page,” Wilbur smirked, saving the document as a draft. 

“Do you have ‘fuck Eret’ in the witness page?” Tubbo smirked from beside Tom. 

“NO! I have the perfect spot for it, though!” Wilbur quickly added the line in and began walking over to the set, the others following. He grabbed the book he would need, placing his phone inside it cleverly. “Everyone ready?” 

“Wil, you aren’t in costume…” Dream muttered. 

“Shit-” 

“LANGUAGE!” The group laughed and got their supplies for the scene. Wilbur was the first in place, then Tubbo, Tom, and Fundy. The others quickly fell into their place. They began muttering their lines, keeping themselves in character. 

It became time for Wilbur to ‘write’ the decree. 

'Witnessed by Dream,

GeorgeSomethingSomet

hing, Sapnap and Punz

(Also Eret fuck eret)

The Decree of

Independance

Signed:

President Wilbur

TommyInnit

Tubbo_

Fundy

As we gaze upon the

swaths of redwood

trees. The great hills

to our south and the

walls that have

protected for years.

I, as the now

President L'Manburg

hereby state:

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

SUCK IT GREEN

BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Life, Liberty and the

Pursuit of Freedom’

  
  


They finished the scene quickly, trying to stay in character as long as possible. Techno was laughing to the side, trying his hardest to not ruin the scene. The cameras were turned off, allowing the actors their moments of laughter before they were ushered away for cleaning. 

“TOM!” Tubbo yelled, shaking his friend’s arm. “GUESS WHAT EPISODE AIRS TONIGHT! One hour. Tomorrow, you can say the line!” 

Tom turned his head to Tubbo, a smirk slithering onto his face. “Yes… I have a plan. I’m going to wait until English class, I’ll… drop my pencil or something, then say the line.” 

“Poor Mackie,” Sal muttered from beside Wilbur. 

“She’ll get over it. Mackerel has a great sense of humor, she might even find it funny!” Wilbur smirked, “C’mon. Let’s get you four home.” 

Wilbur decided to drop Fundy off first, allowing everyone to yell their goodbye’s out the window. Next was Tubbo since he lived closer to Fundy than the others. Then, Grayson- who actually lived two houses down from Tom. When Tom got out of the car, his mind was running nonstop. He was so excited for the next day that he almost forgot to sleep. 

Why did I say almost? He forgot to sleep. 

The next morning, his mind was spinning. He pretty much jumped out of bed. Tom was awake to hear his mother leave for work at 4. He decided to take a shower at 5 since Tubbo wasn’t supposed to pick him up until 6. He had more than a half-hour to ‘relax’ but all he did was watch Wilbur’s You Laugh You Lose. 

It was finally 6. Tubbo knocked on Tom’s door, Tom opening it without hesitation. The trip to school was filled with music, including Wilbur’s new song that Tom knew every word to despite never hearing it before… no one knows, it’s best not to ask. 

Tom jumped out of the car, smiling at how miserable his classmates looked. “Tom, I’m debating throwing Holy Water at you…” Tom glared at Tubbo. 

“You aren’t Connor,” Tom muttered. He cleared his face, for his plan to work he needed everyone to think everything was normal. 

He practically skipped to his first class, mind buzzing. The teacher kept looking at him angrily… He definitely watched last night’s episode. The class was super boring, so when it ended he ran. Entering Mackie’s classroom was even better. Tubbo was already waiting for him at the back of the class, along with Grayson. Mackie’s eyes were red… she was a dedicated viewer of any SMP series. 

“Alright, class. I’m not feeling very good today… So I have an essay for you. Tom, Tubbo, and Grayson you are the reason for this. I watched ‘The Betrayal’ last night,” Mackie groaned. About half the class muttered their agreements. 

“Ms. Mackie, do I have permission to swear?” The teacher nodded, “How did you guys get that… emotional? ‘I mean this in the nicest way possible, you fucked up’ it’s iconic!” 

“That’s your prompt for today! It’s ‘make us emotional’!” Mackie yelled. “100-word minimum.” 

The class immediately started writing. Tubbo writing about his grandfather who was sick, Grayson writing about a boy who was made fun of for something he couldn’t control, and Tom… literally writing his feelings from the SMP episode. How he felt in that moment, the adrenaline, fear, and excitement of the moment. The way his heart sped up five times its normal speed- even though he knew it was scripted. He knew that whatever Eret was doing, Dream and Wilbur knew about it but… if he had been told he didn’t remember. 

He smiled down at his… holy shit how many words? And started counting. He knew that he had over 100. His hand stilled over the last six words. It was perfect. 143 words of pure emotion. 

“Times up! Toby, would you like to go?” Mackie smiled as her favourite student walked to the front of the class. Tubbo placed his paper on the podium, barely lifting his hands before a small rip was heard. 

“Uh-” Tom slapped his hand over his mouth. 

“ _ Shit! _ ” Grayson hissed. 

“Language,” Mackie muttered. “Is something funny, Tom?” 

“Uh, nononono…” Tom wheezed, “it’s just-”

“Tom, no-” Tubbo shook his head.   
“IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE!” Tom wheezed. Some of the class began laughing. 

“I’m so sorry about him, ma’am. This joke has been going on since we filmed it…” Tubbo slinked back to his desk. 

Grayson flattened himself on his desk, “it’s been three months.” 

“What?” Mackie began laughing. 

“Y-yeah, three months since we filmed that scene,” Grayson was rubbing his eyes aggressively. 

“Stop rubbing your eyes, cunt!” Tom threw a bottle of contact solution at the purple boy. The class was laughing too hard at the exchange for the poor English teacher to control them… not that she wanted to, this was hilarious. 

“Three months?” 

“Yes, Ms. Mackie. For three months I have had to listen to this little shit say ‘it was never meant to be’ every five minutes. Please. Just let me learn without the reminder that my friends are idiots,” Grayson groaned, carefully putting the unwelcomed liquid in his eyes.

“Hey!” Toby whined. 

“Wait, hold up. Three months?” One of the boys in the front asked.

“Yes! This b-”

“Language,” Mackie laughed.

“This guy drops his pencil ‘hey, Grayson… it was never meant to be’. Someone trips, ‘it was never meant to be’. Wilbur fucking stutters ‘it was never meant to be’! It never ends!” Grayson hit his head on the desk.

“Grayson-” 

“Don’t you dare.” 

At lunch, Ian attempted to bully Tom… attempted. The kid tripped before he even got to the table. The cafeteria erupted into large bouts of laughter before the inevitable-

“Tubbo! Tubbo! It was never meant to be!” And the laughter grew louder. Ian was pissed. His entire day was ruined from that one interaction. Tom was having a great day. 

Was. 

When he got home, he was greeted with his mother pacing the room. Tubbo and Grayson were going to his house, under the assumption that his mother wouldn’t be home until 22:00- that’s what her note said. 

“Mom? I thought you had to work until 22?” Tom set his bag in its proper spot, Tubbo and Grayson following in his steps. 

“I was supposed to but…” Janine inhaled sharply, “I-it can wait. Go have fun.” 

Tom did exactly that. He knew whatever was going on was too much for him at the moment, he still wanted to have fun with his friends. The three spent the rest of their day playing games and laughing at Twitter responses to The Betrayal. When Tubbo was finally picked up- Grayson had begun walking home minutes before- Tom turned to his mother. Tom took a deep breath before speaking. 

“Mum, what happened?” Tom whispered. 

“Tom, your father called today…” Tom froze. The rest of his mother’s message was tuned out. 

_ No, no, nonononononononononononononono… It can’t be, he’s… no!  _ Tom ran to his room breathing heavily. His chest was tight. Why would he call again? Last time he said he didn’t want to be a part of Tom’s life. Why now? Why did he always call when Tom was finally having a good time? 

Tom couldn’t breathe, the entire room seemed to fall in on him. His thoughts screamed at him, begging for help. His head was pounding. He was breathing too fast but he couldn’t get enough air in. His mind spun to the small box under his bed… nobody knew about it being there except Tubbo. His mother didn’t even know about the scars. 

He took out a knife…

He gasped as he realized what he’d done. He quickly worked to clean at least a little bit of the blood off of him before calling Tubbo. His mind was spinning as he stumbled over to his bed, quickly dialing the number. 

“Hello?” Tom couldn’t answer, he still wasn’t breathing right. “Tom?” 

“T-Toby?” It was almost a whisper. Instantly, the boy on the other line slammed into action.

“Tom, do you need me to come over?” Tubbo slid out of bed, sliding on a shirt and jacket. He was already halfway out of his house when Tom finally answered. 

“U-uh yeah, I…” Tom’s voice was shaking. 

“Tom, breathe. I’ll be there in ten minutes max,” Tubbo started running through the streets without another thought.

“Toby, I need gauze.” The boy freezes. 

“O-ok… how much?” Tubbo took a deep breath, going back to his house. 

“I-I don’t know, not as much as last time?” Tubbo nodded, though the other one didn’t see. 

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, then. Just… stay on the call?” Tom agreed quietly, allowing Tubbo his fifteen minutes to get to his house. Tubbo knew he needed to visit the store between their houses. He decided to grab some crisps and fruit to hide the real thing he was there for. He left the store in a hurry, ignoring the concerned man behind the counter and nearly sprinting to get to his friend’s house. When he arrived, Tom’s mom was the one to open the front door. 

“Toby?” 

“Hi, I’m sorry. It’s really late… My parents are fighting again so I couldn’t sleep. Is there any way I can stay here tonight?” Tubbo had used this lie several times before. It always worked, his parents fought almost daily. Tom’s mom let him in without a second thought. 

“Tom’s in his room. May I ask what you have?” She loosely gestured to the bag in his hand.

“Just some snacks,” Tubbo smiled.

“Alright, well don’t stay up too late. I would like to see my son before I work at noon,” Janine half-joked. Tubbo smiled, muttering a reply along the lines of ‘sure thing’ before he slowly made his way up the stairs and to his friend’s room. 

“Tom?” The older quietly inched the door open. The room was near silent, the only sounds being the slight creak of the door, the wind outside, and the soft crying coming from the other side of the bed. A small whimper was given in response. “Tom, I’m gonna walk over to you. Ok?” 

The younger shifted slightly, turning to his friend. Tubbo carefully sat in front of Tom, placing the bag beside him. The two set to their own tasks- Tom avoiding conversation and Tubbo cleaning Tom’s wounds. 

“Why didn’t you-” Tubbo started for the fifth time. 

“I was scared, ok!” Tom yelled, immediately quieting and glancing toward the door. “I was scared and not thinking and my head hurt too much and I couldn’t breathe. It was all too much at once.” 

“Sorry,” Tubbo wiped the last cut, grabbing the gauze and wrapping it very carefully. The boys sat in silence for a few minutes, Tubbo continuing to wrap the small wrist and Tom continuing to stare at the floor. “We might have to tell Wi-”

Tom winced, “please no…” 

Tubbo taped the wrap, “Tom, I don’t-”

“Please,” Tom practically begged. 

Tubbo sighed, “I won’t say anything unless he asks. If he asks about it, I’m not going to lie. I’ll tell him the bare minimum. That goes for anyone on set.”

“Thank you,” Tom took a deep breath and decided it would be better to not push. “Thank you.” 

Tubbo nodded and started on the other wrist. There weren’t near as many wounds on the second arm. This time, they were huddled in complete silence. There was hardly even wind. 

A knock caused the boys to jump, “You two ok?” 

“Yeah, mom…” the two sat a moment longer. 

“You sure?” Janine leaned against the door. “You haven’t been as loud as you usually are…”

“Uh, yeah. Just a little tired. I did pretty much run here,” Tubbo laughed. He had been doing this for around a year now- the constant ‘my parents were fighting, can I stay here’ and ‘I’m just very tired’. 

“Alright,” she walked away without another word. 

“Th-” Tubbo smacked his hand over Tom’s mouth.

“I swear to god if you say thank you one more time, I will lose it.” 

Tubbo lifted his hand, “S-” The hand clamped back down. 

Tubbo sputtered out the start of words that he didn’t finish, “Y- d- shhhhh. Don’t say that either. I won’t hesitate to smack you.” 

Tom snickered but remained straight-faced. He hardly smiled anymore. The two began joking around with each other, laughs pouring out of them. Tubbo grabbed his bag, offering an apple to his friend. Tom took it gratefully, biting back the urge to vomit. The metallic taste he got whenever he was faced with blood still lingering in his throat. 

“Tom?” Tubbo never missed a beat. The way his friend’s eyes glossed over, the way he could see the boy gag, the way Tom’s movements stuttered. “You don’t have to eat right now.” 

Tom nodded then set the apple down. They were once again enveloped in silence. “Tubbo,” the boy turned upon his name. “Do you-” Tom stifled laughter. “Do you remember all of Dream’s jokes about ‘Prime’?” Tubbo nodded, a smile growing on his face. “What if we brought a squirt gun on set filled with ‘Prime Water’.”

“What’s ‘Prime Water’?” Tubbo asked.

“You let me worry about that, big man!” Tom grew a devilish smile. 

“You’re starting to turn into TommyInnit rather than Tom…” Tubbo joked, laughing at the way his friend’s face turned into a scowl. 

“Bad joke!” Tom muttered. The younger attempted pushing off the ground, only wincing slightly at the burn he felt. “I’m never doing this shit again.” 

“Good,” Tubbo deadpanned, concern lacing his features. Tubbo barely had a moment to himself before his phone rang. He answered it without looking at the contact. “Hello?” 

“Hey, Tubbo. ‘S Tom ok? I’m a little worried, he hasn’t answered my texts.” The teenager rubbed his face, sighing loudly. 

“Hey, Wil. Uh… not sure how to answer that one. I’m at his house right now, he’s definitely… alive?” Tubbo grimaced, he needed time to think out lies. He could pull them out of nowhere. 

“Uh…” Tubbo rubbed his face again. 

“Listen, he asked me to lie for him. I’m not good at lying, so please don’t.”

“Um, how much is he ok with you telling me?” Wilbur asked. Tubbo could hear the frown on his face. 

“He did something he regrets, it’s mildly painful for him to uh… push against things… He called me and asked for me to come over and help him. He’s not in the room right now,” Tubbo paused. Wilbur took in a deep, shaky breath. 

“Is he... He’s not like…” Wilbur sighed. “Was he bleeding?” 

“Yes,” Tubbo choked on his breath. 

“Is he now?” Wilbur muttered. 

“N-no, I… I stopped it.” 

“Thank god…” Tubbo wiped a tear off his cheek. The bedroom door opened, forcing the boy to compose himself. 

“U-um, Tom’s in the room now. Do you want to talk to him?” Tubbo stuttered. Tom looked at Tubbo confused. The other line was silent for nearly a minute.

“If he wants to…” Wilbur whispered. Tubbo heard the man take another deep breath, the boy could practically see him looking at the ceiling- hair a complete disaster, glasses thrown over his shirt, his eyes blown wide as he tried his hardest to not cry. 

Tubbo held his phone out to Tom. “Who?” Tubbo shook his head, offering the phone again. Tom sighed, grabbing the phone and holding it up to his ear. “Hello?” 

“Hey, Tom! I just called Tubbo to see if you were ok. I figured he was my best bet,” Wilbur explained. Tom silently winced at the man’s tone, he could hear the tightening of his throat. 

“What did he tell you?” Tom whispered. 

“Uh, pretty much nothing. The kid’s a bad liar though. You shouldn’t ask him to lie for you,” Wil muttered. “He said that you called him because you did something that you regretted, there was blood but he stopped it, and he’s literally the best friend you could ever ask for.” Tom snorted. “Yeah, ok that last bit was just me but it’s true.” 

Tom looked over at his friend- curled up on the floor head in his hands. “I know.” 

“Tom?” The boy hummed. “Don’t-” 

“I won’t. I’ve already promised,” Tom whispered.

“Good. Do me a favour, Tom.” The boy hummed again, “never let him go. You two need each other. God, he sounded awful when he picked up. He had clearly been crying. Can you look him in the eye for me?” 

“I- I don’t-”

“I know, Tom. Please?” Tom crouched in front of Tubbo, immediately catching the shorter’s eye. Tom finally noticed the tear stains and red eyes, the way Tubbo was hunched over himself, and the slight shake in the boy’s shoulders. “Tom?” 

“Yeah?” the boy cleared his throat. 

“Ok, favour time. Tom, hug him. He’s tired and scared, Tom. He just got a call in the middle of the night, he ran all the way to his best friend’s house, and lied to your mother- I know she isn’t aware of everything that’s going on. Tom, Toby loves you. Even if he’s never told you before,” Wilbur paused, hearing Tom sniffle. “Tom, he loves you.” 

Tom let the phone clatter to the floor as he yanked his friend into a tight embrace. Tubbo quickly reciprocated, pulling his friend closer. Tubbo took in a sharp breath. 

“I’m sorry, Toby.” 

“Don’t, please.” Tubbo shoved his face into his friend’s shoulder. 

“Toby, I’m-”

“Tom, please…” Tom took a shaky breath. 

“You know that you’re like a brother to me, right?” 

“I know,” Tubbo smiled. He knew properly what that statement meant.

“OK, I’M HANGING UP NOW. BYE CHILDREN!” Wilbur yelled from the floor. 

Tom laughed, grabbing the phone from the ground. “Bye Wil!” 

“Bye, Wilbur,” Tubbo whispered

“You two stay safe,” Wilbur smiled. Tubbo grabbed his phone from Tom’s hand, Tom was still latched onto him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj
> 
> Join the discord!


	6. I have an idea... now he can't breathe.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have now entered Season 2 territory… for context, they were allowed to film in the summer for season one because there weren’t any other big SMP projects. Now they have to film after school and during the weekends. They were allowed a brief headstart, so they could get some work done before the start of the school year. TW// BLOOD, MENTIONS OF SH (It’s getting better… for now ;))

To say that Tom was nervous would be an understatement. He didn’t know what he was, the only thing he could think was ‘oof bad thought, no good’. He knew SMP approved a second season but he didn’t know if he would be in it… Tubbo was the first to get a phone call, then Grayson, then he got a call from Schlatt at the time that Wilbur was supposed to call him.

Fucking Schlatt. 

To top it all off, his father was supposed to visit later… the same time Schlatt had said he would come over. His plans for the entire day were ruined. His plans to keep his father’s existence a distant memory were ruined. He felt like shit. 

The boy was ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of the doorbell. He barely opened the door before hearing his friend- and now coworker- practically yell his name. 

“TOMMY! Wil’s here too, hope you don’t mind. He isn’t planning on staying, just needs to talk a moment.” 

Tom stepped to the side, letting his friend(s? And Boss? Coworkers? He honestly didn’t know how to refer to them) in. Wilbur smiled at him, shoving Schlatt slightly when the man stopped at the threshold. 

“That was fucking rude!” Schlatt whined. 

“I don’t care, Schlatt.” Wilbur smirked, turning to the teen, “Hi Tom! I just wanted to make sure you were ok. Also, are you good to work season two? Dream said you probably would, I just wanted to double-check and got a ‘line busy’ message. Sorry, I’m talking really fast. Karl gave me a Monster, I haven’t had one in years… I’m going to stop talking now.”

Tom laughed lightly, “Yeah, big man. I’ll be in season two. You got the ‘line busy’ message because of Schlatt.” Tom shook off the worry about the show. Of course, he would be in season two! Dream had said Tubbo_ and TommyInnit were the main characters… he mentally slapped himself, scolding the voice in his head for not remembering that earlier. He should have remembered that, he would have been so much calmer. 

“Ok, I’m gonna go now. There’s some drunk dude in your driveway… he called me a nonce,” Wil laughed, opening the door to leave. Tom groaned… why now? Why did he have to show up now? And drunk? He wasn’t supposed to be at the house for another three hours. Tom’s mother was supposed to be home when he got there. What was he supposed to do now?

Tom felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumped. “It’ll be fine, Tom. Your mother warned me that your father would be here at some point today. I’ve got you.” 

Tom took a deep breath, nodding his head slightly. He wished Tubbo was there. Tubbo always knew exactly what to say to get Tom’s father to leave without the man getting angry. He knew he couldn’t call the other teen, Tubbo was in a different country for the week.

There was a small knock on his front door, Tom could tell it was his father’s pattern. “Schlatt, he isn’t supposed to be here until my mum is. I don’t-” The teen was breathing too quickly. 

“Tom, breathe. I’ll get the door,” Schlatt gently pushed the boy to the couch. There was another knock on the door, this one louder. Schlatt ground his teeth together,  _ Don’t lose your cool now. The kid needs you.  _ The man slowly made his way to the door, adjusting his suit as he walked. Even he didn’t know why he always wore a suit. He thought maybe it was because they were comfortable, or maybe it was just a confidence boost. He sighed and opened the front door. 

“Who the fuck are you?” The man on the other side of the door slurred. 

“Tom’s volunteer bodyguard. Why are you showing up more than four hours early and drunk?” Schlatt muttered, he really didn’t have the patience to deal with a drunk dude that he didn’t know. 

“I wanna see my fuckin kid,” The man leaned heavily on the door frame.

“Sober up and wait until Janine gets here. Bye,” Schlatt shut the door and locked it, texting the aforementioned to inform her of the drunk man on her porch. He sat down next to Tom on the couch. Schlatt noticed the boy cradling his arms, and placed a hand on his shoulder. When the teen looked up, it was clear he was stressed. There were a few moments of silence before- “Oh my- Tom you’re bleeding.” 

The teen looked down at his arm startled, when had he started bleeding? He began taking off his jumper and walking toward the medicine cabinet. Was it when he hit his arm on the counter? No, that was too soft of an action- even with the healing scars. Tom froze… the scars. Schlatt was standing behind him, slowly moving in front of the teen. 

Schlatt noticed the angry red lines vertically scattered on Tom’s arms, and the less angry- but bleeding- horizontal ones. “You shouldn’t scratch at them, it’ll make it worse. Next time try to scratch your leg until your arm is completely healed.” Tom was still frozen under the gaze of the older. His mind was racing faster than it ever had. “Tom?” His head snapped up, “Be careful.” 

Tom stood in his spot for a few minutes. There wasn’t pity, anger, or disgust in Schlatt’s eyes. Just concern. “Wait…” 

“I’ve known for a while, kid. You’re hard to read, but you aren’t impossible. You constantly wear long sleeves, pull your sleeves over your palms, and you don’t let anyone touch your wrists- including Tubbo. I figured it was either this or your parents were leaving bruises on you. Your mother is just… way too fucking sweet for that, and she had told me that you hadn’t seen your father in almost three years. That eliminates the bruising option, making it this. How long has it been since the last ones?” 

“Four months, but they kept reopening.” Tom was almost whispering, his head was spinning and screaming. 

Schlatt hummed and finished wrapping Tom’s arm. “Four months is a long time.”

“It was previously a year…” Schlatt glanced at the dejected boy. 

“Four months is a long time,” Schlatt repeated. Tom shifted on his feet, “you can’t change what you did, but you can be proud of how much you’ve changed since then.” 

“Yeah, but I-” 

“Four months is a long time,” Schlatt repeated. 

“Schlatt, I-” 

“Four months-” 

“Schlatt stop! Four months is a long time. That’s true, but how can I be proud of four months when it was a year? How can I be happy with four months when it’s just a reminder that it could’ve been two years? I can’t be happy with four months when-” The boy stopped as a hand was placed on his shoulder, and a tear was wiped away from his eye. “I don’t understand why you’re ok with four months when I’m not.” 

“Four months is a long time,” Schlatt repeated. “I’m proud of you, even if you don’t see why,” Schlatt walked away from the teen without saying another word. The man took off his suit coat as he walked and gently set it on the coat rack. He sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. This would be tough to deal with. There were exactly five seconds of silence before someone was knocking on the door again.

Schlatt groaned, walking over to the door again. “LET ME THE FU-” 

Schlatt shut the door on the man’s face, locking it again. “Does he ever give up?” Tom shook his head, still stressed from the earlier conversation. Schlatt hummed, “Would your mother be angry with me if I called the police?”

“Probably not, especially since he’s drunk.” 

The suited man fell onto the couch, sighing and pulling out his phone. He quickly called the police, explaining the situation before hanging up. He glanced at Tom, who was sitting sideways on the couch- legs crossed and hands idly in his lap. The boy was staring out the window. 

“What the fuck is Prime Water?” Schlatt asked, having heard Tom and Tubbo talking about it earlier in the week. 

Tom smiled at the man, “Don’t worry about it, big man. It’s a surprise!”

“Well, now I’m definitely worried about it,” Schlatt laughed. 

A few minutes later, Tom’s father was dragged away from the house. Schlatt answered every question that was thrown at him- including respectfully declining the offer for a dinner date. Tom lowered himself back to his spot on the couch, this time setting a book in his lap. Schlatt sighed again, sitting beside the teen. 

“You sigh a lot,” Tom mumbled. He glanced at the suited man, flipping a page. 

“Sorry,” Schlatt pressed himself into the couch. 

“Are you ok?” Tom looked at his friend, marking his spot on the page with his bookmark. 

“Yeah,” Schlatt looked up at the boy- who was just… staring. “I stopped drinking a few months ago.” 

A grin spread across Tom’s face, “Good for you! Well done, big man! This deserves a celebration, Tom style!” 

“What the fuck does that mean!?” Schlatt yelled. 

Fortunately for Schlatt, Janine walked through the door. “No, we are not celebrating ‘Tom style’. Hello, Schlatt!” 

“Thank fuck, you’re here-”

“Language!” Schlatt snapped his mouth shut, glaring at the man with knives. “There’s a child present.”

“Excuse you, I am fift- Oh, hey Fundy!” Tom yelled. 

“Hi, Tom! Apparently Bad is REALLY good with knives!” Fundy smiled. 

Bad went to show off his knife skills before Janine grabbed his arm. “Not inside the house.” 

Bad smiled at her, “Yes, ma’am! Tom, Wilbur wanted your help with the script. He asked me to have you call him.” 

Tom smiled, grabbing his phone from his pocket. He had several texts and missed calls from Wilbur and Tubbo. “Tubbo called me…” Tom opened his voice messages. 

“HEY TOM! I really miss you! I know you’re probably hanging out with JSchlatt- honestly, he should just adopt you at this point,” Tubbo laughed. “Anyway! I hope to see you soon. Tell Schlatt I say hi!” 

Tom smiled up at Schlatt, “I heard the kid. Don’t-”

“Tubbo says hi!” Tom laughed. 

“I hate you,” Schlatt smiled. Tom smirked, looking back at his phone to answer Wilbur’s questions. “That kid is going to be the death of me. He’s too fuckin-” 

“Language.” 

“-Sweet,” Schlatt glared at Bad. “You say that to me one more fucking time-” 

“Language.” 

“No fighting in my house, boys!” Janine yelled. Schlatt glared at Bad but decided to walk away. “Thank you, Schlatt. You know Tom really looks up to both of you, right? Well- all of you.” 

Schlatt and Bad nodded, Tom had already made it clear that he thought of people on set like family. He would pull elaborate pranks on them, tell them embarrassing stories, and he refused to hold back around them. He said anything and everything that came to mind. 

“I wanted to thank you both for being there. I know he doesn’t tell me everything. I know you guys probably know more about him than I do. So, thank you,” Janine smiled sadly. 

“WE JUST ADDED-” 

“Volume, Tom.” 

“Sorry, we just added a bomb-like thing into season two! Wilbur needed to put something in to make us call Phil so we created an entire argument where Tubbo does the thing, then says ‘now he can’t breathe’ because it’s hilarious.” Tom rambled. 

“Nice, that’ll be fun to watch!” Schlatt laughed. 

“You’re the bad guy of season two,” Tom smiled. 

“FUCK!” 

“Language!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discord, anyone?
> 
> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj


	7. It Was Never Meant To Be...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we get to the good stuff.

The school was going great for Tom! In every class except math, science, free period, and history. So really, English class was going great for Tom! Except for Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays… Thursdays in English class were going great for Tom… 

Every Thursday in English class, they had a thirty-minute writing period where they could write about whatever they wanted. Tom loved it. With the help of SMP writers, he was finally able to get the proper words on the page. He no longer needed to retreat into his head to create stories, and he loved it. Mackie gave them short prompts- but they didn’t need to use the prompts. 

Today's prompt was simple: It Was Always Meant To Be… yeah, that one was definitely  _ not _ because Tom had been using that joke every thirty minutes in her class. Definitely  _ not _ his fault. 

Either way, he had a plan. He would write about Eret betraying  _ Dream _ instead of  _ L’Manberg _ . He- of course- got permission to write about the characters of a TV show (that would technically make it fanfiction) before he began. Mackie didn’t mind. The spark the boy had any time he spoke of his worlds made her proud to be a teacher. Proud to be  _ his _ teacher. 

Tubbo, on the other hand, was stumped. It was a bad day for him to have dyslexia. He couldn’t think of synonyms for a word… he couldn’t even remember how to say the word. He had less than five minutes before he might be asked to present in front of the class. 

Grayson was focused on the door. He had finished his 200 words and couldn’t think of anything to add. Why was the fifteen-year-old staring at the door? Simple. There was someone on the other side of it! You might say ‘Narrator’- my name is Donnie first of all- ‘it’s a school, of course, there’s someone on the other side!’ That’s true but the person on the other side was especially interesting. It was Barron. Remember him from chapter four? He was actually important to the plot. Otherwise, Y.A. wouldn’t have put his name in. Grayson had barely recognized the boy before-

“Ms. Mackie?” The principal asked. 

“Yes?” The young teacher climbed out of the cabinet- don’t ask why. Earlier she had claimed to need something from there and simply  _ climbed _ in. Nobody knows how she fit. 

“Uh… We have um… Why were you in there?” Mackie shrugged. “Ok… we have a new student. This is-”

“BARRON, MY MAN! BEE STING MAN!” Tom yelled. 

“Wow, I will never get used to that. Come sit by us!” Tubbo offered. The principal shrugged, leaving the room. 

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember your names.” Barron awkwardly rubbed his neck, “I tend to forget names easily.”  
“Oh, that’s ok! I’m Tom, this is Tubbo- tubster, Tubbox, and Tubby are generally accepted as well- and this is Grayson… he’s just Grayson!” Tom smiled. 

“Times up, class. Anyone want to share?” Mackie asked, tumbling out of the closet she had shoved herself into. Nobody moved. “Alright, Tubbo?” The teen shook his head. “Ok, uh… Ian?” The boy stood up and began talking about… Cars or something like that. The movie, not the vehicle. 

Tom wasn’t paying attention. None of the main characters were, which is why I- Donnie- don’t actually know what he was talking about. Instead of paying attention, Tom and Tubbo were signing back and forth at each other. Barron was staring at them intently, following the conversation. Grayson was doodling on his page, unable to focus on anything at that moment. 

‘What were they talking about, Donnie?’ Well, reader, thank you for asking and for calling me Donnie rather than ‘Narrator’. The boys were talking about the filming that was to happen tonight. They weren’t allowed to know what they were filming… which was weird. Even Tubbo said it was weird. They were always included in the plan… aside from Eret’s arc. 

_ ‘ERET’S ARC!’  _ Tom shout-signed.  _ ‘It’s going to be something like Eret’s Arc. The Betrayal, again!’  _ Tom and Tubbo immediately stopped signing after that. They would need genuine reactions, they couldn’t theorize what would happen further. However, they both still thought of what that could mean. 

After English, they had lunch. They were able to sit and talk for an hour about whatever they wanted. The group always sat in the left corner of the large room. It was the only place they could all agree on. However- on this particular Thursday- Ian had decided it was  _ his _ table to sit at. Also- on this singular Thursday- Schlatt was visiting. Why do bad things always happen when Schlatt visits? 

Tom groaned as he sat at the table in the right corner- they had already decided if the left corner was taken, they would go to the right. Tubbo sighed, setting his bag on the ground at his feet- Grayson and Barron following his steps. 

“You guys are acting like this is the worst thing to happen,” Barron half-questioned, pulling out a sketchbook. 

“It would be different if-” 

“TOMMY!” Schlatt yelled, walking up to the group.

“-he wasn’t visiting,” Tubbo smiled. 

“Hey, JSchlatt,” Tom sighed. The entire lunch room seemed to stare at them. 

The tall man sat down hastily, “They practically frisked me in there.” He joked. 

“Do you blame them?” Tubbo joked, causing Tom to snort. 

“Nah, not really. I would’ve carried a gun in here if it was allowed.”

“That’s terrifying…” Barron glanced at Schlatt before looking at his sketchbook again. 

The group fell into a steady rhythm of conversation. They were talking about what they thought was going to happen in season three- which had been confirmed. Tom personally thought that Wilbur would take up being president after a few episodes, the older heavily believed that children shouldn’t run a country on their own. Tubbo thought that he would run the country but Wilbur would offer help. Schlatt thought that L’Manberg would be destroyed by Techno. The suited man was more than happy to have ‘died’. 

“What’s up, nerds?” Ian sneered. 

_ Here we go again,  _ “What do you want, Ian?” Tom muttered. 

“I want you to apolo-” 

“Who the fuck is this?” Schlatt interrupted. 

“Schlatt, bud. We’re in a school. You can’t curse whenever you want,” Grayson sighed. “This is Ian… as Tom said.” 

“Ok, I get that. But… Why are you here?” Schlatt laughed. “I mean, clearly you should have better things to do than pick on these guys and if you don’t, now you do. Leave,” He growled. 

“Wow. You’re reaching new lengths, Tom. Needing someone older to protect you? That’s just plain pathetic,” Ian laughed. 

“Oh, I’m not protecting him. I’m making you a promise. You hurt one of these four and I’ll hurt you,” Schlatt growled. 

“Are you threatening me?” 

“No, dimwit. I literally said it was a promise,” Schlatt turned to his friends. “They can arrest you for threats, can’t arrest you for promises.” 

Schlatt smirked as Ian glared at him, walking away. “Dude,” Tubbo started, “You can’t threaten students.” 

“I didn’t threaten him!” Schlatt argued. The goat-man adjusted his suit, sitting down beside Tom. “I made him a promise.” 

“Schlatt, all it takes is him telling his parents you threatened him.” 

“The kid doesn’t even know my name,” Schlatt scoffed. “And if the police ask, I didn’t threaten him. I made him a promise. Since that is literally what happened.” 

“A promise to hurt him,” Barron grumbled. 

“Only if he hurts one of you,” Schlatt countered. 

“That’s not how the police work-” Tubbo groaned. 

Schlatt sighed, “Tom? You ok?” 

The teen nodded, “Tired. Very tired,” he muttered. Schlatt carefully pulled his arms apart, causing the teen to look at him in shock. 

“You sure?” Schlatt asked, making sure to keep his tone light. 

“Yeah, I’m good.” Tom turned to Tubbo. ‘He already knows,’ the boy signed. 

‘Ok. Are you ok?’ Tubbo signed back. 

‘I don’t know,’ Tom signed, sighing. 

Dream, Wilbur, and Phil had been filming for hours. Season two’s finale… part one. Yep… they were those assholes who split the season finale in half. The only things the actors (other than Phil, Wilbur, and Dream) were told was ‘something tragic is going to happen, improvise. Quackity, you’ll need to get in this suit’. Wilbur was already in his spot, Phil was manning his camera- the person who was supposed to had called in. They were filming the final scene for ‘The Festival: Part One’. 

“THE THING THAT I BUILT THIS NATION FOR, DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE! THE THING THAT I WORK TOWARDS DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE-” Wilbur took a deep breath, steadying himself and stepping toward the button in the center of the room again. “It’s over.” 

Disaster struck. That disaster came in the form of a 5’1” Scottish man with little to no balance. Philza fell off his camera seat. In a moment of panic, he did the first thing he could think of. 

“What are you doing?” Wilbur froze.  _ Shit, what-?  _

“Phil?” The question was two questions pulled together in a mix of panic.  _ What the fuck is he doing?  _

“What are you doing?” The older one repeated.  _ Oh, even he doesn’t know. Improve time! _

“Phil?” The older stepped forward. 

“Mm-hmm,” He made himself seem calm, collected. As his character had been shown previously. This wasn’t how his character was supposed to be introduced, but they could roll with it. Phil crossed his arms, leaning against the door to the ‘button room’, and glanced at his communicator. “Yeah. Just ‘in L’Manberg’, you said.” 

“This is in L’Man…” Wilbur thought quickly. “Ok, I will admit. Do you know what this button is?” 

“Uh-huh… I do,” Phil squinted slightly, un-crossing his arms and stepping forward, his jacket flowing slightly behind him. 

“Have you heard this- the song on the walls before? Have you heard the song?” Wilbur took a breath, stepping toward one of the lines hastily carved into the wall. He traced the word ‘was’ carefully. “I was just saying, I made this big point and it was poignant, and it was the- it’s um… there  _ was _ a special place where men could go, but there’s not there anymore. You know, it’s not-” He took another shuddering breath, stepping away. 

“It  _ is  _ there,” Phil started, stepping closer to Wilbur- who was rubbing his eyes in distress. “It’s just… you’ve just won it back, Wil.” 

The two could see Dream panicking in the background. The others weren’t allowed on set that day, they couldn’t know what was going to happen. They needed genuine reactions.

“PHIL, I’M ALWAYS SO CLOSE TO PRESSING THIS BUTTON! Phil, I have been- I’ve been here like seven or eight times! I have been here seven or eight times!” Wilbur repeated, stalling for thought. “Oh, they’re gonna come an jo-” Wilbur sighed, cutting off his sentence. “I need to block this off, I don’t want them in here.” Wilbur ‘placed blocks’ by the door, getting as close to script as he could. “Phil, I- I have been here so many times. They’re fighting. They’re FIGHTING!” 

Phil let there be a moment of silence, messing with his shirt slightly. “And you want to just blow it all up?” 

“Yeah, I do,” Wilbur breathed out, “I think I-” 

“You fought so hard to get this- this land back-”

“I don’t even-”  
“So hard-” 

Wilbur paused, “I don’t even know if it works anymore. I don’t even know if the button works. I could- I could press it and it might-” Wilbur glanced at Phil, panic laced on brunette’s face. Phil looked completely calm, like a father scolding his child- which, to be fair, was accurate for their character’s. 

“Do you really want to take that risk?” Phil raised an eyebrow. There was another moment of Wilbur staring at Phil. “There is a lot of TNT potentially connected to that button,” Phil stated, gesturing loosely and taking another step toward Wilbur. 

Wilbur sighed, “There was a saying Phil.” His communicator went off, as planned. Wilbur swiped the message away. “Phil, there was a saying, Phil. Uh, by a traitor. Uh, once part of L’Manberg. A traitor, I don’t know if you’ve heard of, Eret?” 

“Yeah,” Phil nodded. He forced a calm confusion onto his face as Wilbur stepped back, right next to the button. 

“He had a saying, Phil.” The younger hit his head against the wall, lifting his arm weakly. He sighed, forcing tears into his eyes. He smiled, slowly opening his eyes. “It was never meant to be!” 

“NO!” Phil lurched forward.  _ Thank Prime, they finished the design on my wings! _

He pressed the button, ending the episode. Do you really think they’re going to allow them to see what happens in the first half? No. Dream’s a dick when it comes to production. 

“What the hell was that?” Dream yelled, walking on set. 

“I- uh… I fell,” Phil sighed. Wilbur snickered slightly. 

“It worked out perfectly. I know how to rip people’s hearts out with the next episode now!” Wilbur smiled. “Thank Prime we finished the design on Phil’s wings last week.” 

“Go get working! I’ll tell the others we need a slight script adjustment. I’ll add people freaking out on their communicators over Phil. Also, what’s the plan with Phil? Are we going to have him be injured in the explosion? We do have the no wing’s rule-” Dream began walking next to Wilbur, toward what the teens had deemed the ‘writing room’. “-so we could have him get injured-” 

“That was what I was going to plan. Phil lounged at me, so Phil would ‘save’ me with his wings- which would destroy his wings- and then I would beg him to kill me and he would argue ‘but you’re my son’ and end up killing me!” Wilbur smiled. 

“You sadistic fuck,” Dream laughed, shaking his head. 

“Mmmm, that’s why I’m the scriptwriter!” Wilbur smiled. 

“Fuck, that’s true…” Dream sighed, walking away from his friend. He pulled out his phone and called the first person on the list: Technoblade. The phone rang three times before he answered. 

“What do you want? It’s literally four in the morning. If you call Tom, Tubbo, Grayson, or Barron at this time, I will find you and murder you.” 

“What? It can’t be that-” Dream paused, staring at the clock on the wall. “Well, shit. You’re the first one I called.” 

“Mmm. What do you want?” Techno repeated. 

“We have to make a script change, meaning we have to change the entire energy around it… Do you remember your speech?” 

“Of course, I remember my speech. I’m the one who wrote it,” Techno growled. 

“The one addressed to Tommy, dumbass.”

“The one about heros?” Techno sounded hopeful. 

“Yeah, that one. We need you to use it,” Dream could hear the smile on Techno’s face. 

“Gladly,” Techno smirked. “Don’t fucking call the teens right now.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Or Bad, Skeppy, or- you know what just don’t fucking call anyone else. Set an alarm for the morning. I mean  _ actual _ morning not that eight A.M. Bullshit.” 

“Yes, sir,” Dream drawled. 

“Bye, dumbass.” The Blade hung up. 

Dream sighed, making his way back to the 'writing room’. He pushed open the door slowly, “Wil? We should go to sleep. Bullet point your ideas, you can write tomorrow.” 

“I don’t feel tired, though!” Wilbur groaned. 

“Wilbur, I swear to  _ prime _ itself. It is four in the morning! We are going to bed. Bullet your ideas so I can drive you home!” Dream muttered, stepping away from the door. Wil quickly jotted his ideas, then followed Dream out of the building. 

“What makes you think I won’t just write when I get home?” The brit teased. 

“I can shut off your wifi and your computer from my house. You made sure of that during SMPEarth because you kept writing way passed when we agreed you would. I never detached it,” Dream opened his car door. “Get in.” 

“Yes, sir!” Wilbur laughed. The car ride was near silent. When they arrived at Wil’s house, they could see Sal waiting in the living room. “Thanks, D.” 

“No problem, good luck with Sal!” Dream laughed, seeing the yawn that bubbled from his friend. 

Once Wilbur was safely- well as safe as he could be with an angry Sal- inside, Dream pulled away. It wasn’t long before he was in his own home, facing his own angry roommate. 

“What. The. Fuck,” Danielle growled. 

“Hi, Danny!” Dream laughed. 

“Don’t ‘hi, Danny’ me! It is four in the morning! I stayed up all night waiting for even just ‘I’ll be home late’ in a text and you just walk in, no shame, at four in the morning! Explain yourself!” Danielle growled. “And I told you not to call me Danny!” 

Dream sighed loudly, “I’m sorry, I completely forgot you were here…” he admitted, “I’m a terrible brother.” 

Danielle sighed, “you are a terrible brother. However, I will let it slide tonight. Tomorrow, you better be home by ten so we can watch Manhunt together.” 

“Danielle, I am literally in Manhunt. There is no need for me to-” 

“WE ARE WATCHING MANHUNT TOGETHER!” Danielle screamed, walking away from her brother and into her room.

“Ok,” Dream sighed. The man walked into his room, shutting the door and immediately falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discord, anyone?
> 
> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj


	8. The Festival: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'ALL My sister just had a child.   
> Sorry this chapter is late...

Early in the morning, Dream had sent the actors a message briefly explaining what they would film that day. Tom and Tubbo had gotten it while they were in school. Tom happened to be- to quote him- ‘awesomely lip-syncing That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars’ while Tubbo filmed him. Wilbur had replied to the message saying he would drive the teens- including Barron- to SMP that day. Wilbur was waiting at the front of the school before their last class was done. 

Dream was already on set when the group arrived, they were the only ones. It was half an hour before anyone else showed up. When everyone was on set, they began filming. Wilbur and Dream quickly got everyone into place. Wilbur was putting Quackity’s fly suit on, spending extra time to make sure it was fit properly- the younger still didn’t know why he needed it. Dream was making sure Tommy and Techno were in the exact spots they needed to be in, they had been in The Festival: Part One. They had filmed Techno taking Tubbo’s ‘canon’ life, then let everyone go. It was stupid of the two to not realize Tom could easily see Phil getting into costume. 

“Phil’s in this episode?” Tom asked. 

“Uh…” Dream froze, glancing over to where the man stood. “No? He’s just… um... yeah he is. I’m gonna give you a signal to send a message on the communicator, ok?” 

“Why is Phil in this episode?” Tom asked, moving to his direct spot. 

“Um… because we… need him? To be?” Dream questioned. 

“Huh… you’re a bad liar, Dream!” Tom laughed. 

“Yeah, it’s one of my best traits.” Dream finished placing Techno’s cloak and stopped to watch the man pull his cracked pig skull over his face, “It makes it so that people underestimate me.”

“Wow, that’s… borderline manipulative.” Tom awkwardly laughed, “Did you know that wild boars can be up to 7 feet long?” 

“Tom… why?” Techno laughed.

Tom shrugged. “JSCHLATT!” The teen laughed, pointing behind the tall pink-haired man. 

“FUCK OFF-” 

“Language!” 

“-YOU’RE FILMING!” Schlatt yelled, “also, uh… I got a job on the other side of the country, so I’ll see you in a bit, kid. I’m leaving tonight, I made sure I have time to say goodbye to you.” Dream began walking to his spot, just past Schlatt. The suited man grabbed the blonde’s arm, “Be careful with him. Don’t let him get too intense.” 

“What?” Dream was given no answer, as Schlatt walked away without saying anything further. “Ok… that was weird…” he thought aloud. 

Dream shook off the weird confrontation, moving toward his spot. Everyone signaled that they were in place. Dream quickly yelled what everyone was to do, allowing the camera crew to know who to film. There were a few moments of silence before Dream motioned for someone offset to yell ‘action’, and the group immediately started arguing. Tommy had an arm protectively in front of Fundy- Tommy was supposed to be his Uncle… or at least that’s what he thought. 

“WHERE’S WILBUR?” Tommy yelled, turning to face where he knew the ‘button room’ was. “Oh no…” There were a few moments of pure panic, of people (characters, Tom reminded himself. They were characters right now) screaming for Wilbur, then a bunch of people yelling Phil’s name. Dream gave Tommy the signal to send a message, as a few people walked up towards the back of the button room. “WILBUR?” 

The ground began shaking. Everyone went silent. There was a brief moment of utter disbelief before someone yelled ‘get down’. Quackity went flying.  _ So that’s why he needed a fly suit… _ Tom thought. He quickly moved toward where the ‘explosion’ was, knowing they would film the next bit immediately. 

“ _ MY _ L’Manberg, Phil! My unfinished symphony, forever unfinished! If  _ I _ can’t have this,  _ NO-ONE  _ can Phil!” Tommy gasped, taking a step toward Fundy to protect him. 

“Oh my god,” Phil was genuinely shocked. Tom took a moment to look at them, noticing the way his clothes were burnt in places but perfectly clean in others.  _ Wings. _

“Kill me, Phil.” Wilbur looked frantic, ignoring the small yells for him to stop. “Phil, kill me. Phil,  _ KILL ME! _ ” Wilbur grabbed his sword from its hilt, handing it to Phil. “Phil, stab me with the sword, murder me now, kill me!” Phil stared at him, was he actually supposed to? They didn’t give him- oh. It was his decision. Phil knew that Wilbur would probably stab himself if he denied. “Killza, Killza, do it! Kill me, Phil!” The man got more wound up, taking a step toward the Scottsman, “Murder me! Look, they all want you to! Do it, Phil! Kill me! PHIL, KILL ME!” 

Phil glanced out to the group of people gathering around the base of the button room, “I- You’re my  _ SON! _ ” Phil yelled, adjusting his grip on the sword and stepping back. He glanced out again, noticing Tom practically hugging Fundy- who was trying to get to the room through all the rubble. 

“PHIL,  _ KILL ME!”  _ Wilbur screamed, positioning the sword at his chest- then left slightly after remembering it was a real sword. Phil heard Fundy gasp and yell ‘no’ again, the man glanced down to see Tom dragging the younger back toward the crowd.

“No matter what you- dude, no matter what you’ve done, I can’t-” Phil’s voice was shaking. 

Wilbur took another step toward him, causing the sword to slightly ‘peirce’ him. He faced a hiss of pain, “Phil, it’s- LOOK!  _ LOOK!  _ HOW MUCH WORK WENT INTO THIS, and it’s GONE!” He took a shaky breath, stepping again and forcing a pained expression. “Do it.  _ Do it!”  _ Wilbur hissed. 

Phil drove the sword through him, sinking to the ground along with his son. He let out a small scream, allowing the natural tears to run down his face. The intensity of the scene had him genuinely crying. “God! You couldn’t just let- you couldn’t just  _ win! _ You couldn’t- You  _ had  _ to just throw your toys out the pram!” The older practically whispered the last line. 

There was another moment of silence when Wilbur was supposed to burst into dust. “DAD!” Fundy screamed, tears pooling in the young boy’s eyes. The sound forced everyone’s attention away, Tommy being forced to pull the boy away again. “NO! DAD!” Fundy kept screaming, smacking at Tommy, and trying to make his way to Wilbur (who had snuck offset, as he was now dead). 

Tommy barely had a hold on him before he fell to the ground sobbing. Techno was still staring at the scene before him.  _ Sweet Prime, these people are so much more talented than me… _ The man thought, shaking his head and snapping back into the scene. 

“Tommy,” Techno’s voice cracked slightly- the only sign of emotion the man let slip. 

“Yeah?” The boy asked, wiping his face of the tears. Techno took another step forward, pulling the small teen away from Fundy. 

“Do you think you’re a hero? Is that what this is?” The man asked, gesturing to the ‘army’ Tommy and Wilbur had created. 

“I just wanted… I just wanted L’Manberg,” Tommy’s voice was low and pained. The sound of it nearly made Techno back out of what he was told to do. Dream had told him to make the Theseus speech, then set out two Withers- Dream had wanted to finish filming the episode that day so he could spend extra time on the beasts. 

“You just wanted  _ power, _ ” Techno scoffed. 

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, I didn’t- I just wanted…” The boy trailed off. Techno glanced at Dream, trying to gauge a reaction. Silently asking  _ do I keep going?  _ Dream nodded at him. 

“Tommy, you just did a  _ coup _ . You just did a hostile government takeover and then immediately instilled yourself as president. And then you gave it to your friend,” The man paused. “But that’s still a  _ tyrant, _ Tommy! But the thing about this world, Tommy, is that good things don’t happen to heroes. Let me tell you a story, Tommy.” Technoblade crouched, setting the edge of his ax at Tommy’s chin to force him into eye contact. “A story of a man called Theseus,” Tom took a deep breath in. He heard this speech. Dream shot it down, why was Techno saying it now? “His country… well his city-state, technically, was in danger. And he sent himself forward into enemy lines, he  _ slayed _ the minotaur, and saved his city. Do you know what they did to him?”Tommy shook his head, tears collecting in his eyes, his throat too tight for words. Technoblade stood up, his knees cracking. “They exiled him. He died, in disgrace, despised by his people.  _ That’s _ what happens to heroes, Tommy.” 

“But he  _ saved  _ everyone!” Tubbo yelled, stepping toward Tommy. Techno took a moment to look at the people who had gathered around him during his speech. 

“The Greeks knew the score,” Techno smirked. “But if you want to be a hero, Tommy, that’s fine… that’s fine.” Techno pulled a Wither skull from behind his cape- Dream had placed it there when they were getting on set. 

Tommy’s eyes widened, he inhaled deeply. “Technoblade,  _ don’t do this.”  _

Techno smirked, pausing his movements when another person spoke. “Don’t do this Techno, don’t-” Phil’s voice was scratchy from crying. 

“We’re  _ so close, _ I’m not the hero-” Tommy tried to reason again. 

“If you want to be a hero, Tommy…” Techno chuckled, stepping back behind the pillars he had ‘placed’ earlier in the show. 

“There’s no fucking way, there’s no fucking way…” Fundy mumbled, stepping away from the masked man. 

“Do you want to be a hero, Tommy?!” Techno tilted his head from his spot, his hair falling in front of his mask. “THEN  _ DIE  _ LIKE ONE!” He slammed the skull into its spot. 

The group heard Dream laugh, shouting in victory. They began hastily attacking the air and being pelted by dodgeballs from offset. Techno walked away from the scene, keeping a collected look until he was allowed to join Wilbur, Dream, and Schlatt in their dodgeball throwing. Dream let it go on for a few more moments before inevitably yelling for the scene to be over. 

“Holy fuck-” Technoblade started. 

“Language!” 

“-You kids are great actors!” The man finished. 

“Uh, thanks, big man,” Tom muttered, still in character. 

“Tom,” Schlatt started from beside Wil and Techno. “Blue.” The boy looked at Schlatt confused for a moment before slipping back into his normal personality.

“Thank you… Why the dodgeballs?” Tom laughed. 

“How else are we supposed to get a reference for where to have the Withers attack?” Wilbur asked, quirking an eyebrow. 

“DID YOU KNOW THAT WOULD WORK?” Quackity laughed, gesturing to the harness still attached to him. 

“Yes, we wouldn’t have put you in it if we weren’t sure that it was safe.” Dream answered. “Before you ask how, we found test dummies.” 

“By found he means he asked me to bring them,” Phil gave Dream a look that clearly stated he couldn’t take the sarcasm that day. 

“Do you guys feel up to continuing?” Dream asked. He was greeted by a chorus of ‘yes’s. By this time, they were handed a script. Tom and Tubbo had their parts memorized in five minutes. While they were waiting for everyone else, Tubbo decided to show Dream and Wilbur the Bruno Mars video. 

“Who’s Ran-bow?” Tom asked, completely butchering the pronunciation. No one had thought to ask where Barron had gone until he walked in. In a suit. With a crown. And fake ears. He looked brilliant. One of his eyes had a bright red contact in it, while the other had a bright green one. 

“It’s pronounced Ranboo. Y’know, it’s really hard to see with these in.” The statement earned a brief snort from Technoblade and Grayson. 

“Trust me, kid, I know.” Techno walked away from the three teens and toward Dream. 

“Huh… he was the one who wore golden contacts, right?” Tom nodded, dismissing the conversation. 

The children were ushered onto the next set. Most of it was Tubbo and Quackity greeting the new residents of the ‘server’- including Ranboo. After a while, they switched to a scene of Tommy sitting on the bench in L’Manberg. He was already there, going over the events of the day in his head. Tubbo, Fundy, and Ranboo walked over to the boy. Tubbo sighed, sitting beside Tommy and putting a disc in. Wilbur was barely containing his laughter. Tom didn’t think anything of it, as Dream was putting something in the brit’s left eye.

“JUMP IN THE CADILLAC, GIRL LET’S PUT SOME-” Tom slowly turned to look behind the camera at Wilbur, forcing a straight face. “MILES ON IT! ANYTHING YOU WANT, JUST TO PUT A SMILE ON YOU! YOU DESERVE IT BABY, YOU DESERVE IT ALL! AND I’M GONNA GIVE IT TO YO -” The disc abruptly stopped, Tom turning his head to face Tubbo again. 

“Well, I don’t know what  _ that _ was,” Tubbo laughed. “Uh… let’s put Mellohi in.” Tubbo glared at Wilbur while slipping the  _ proper _ disk in. The soft tones of the song began playing. Their characters spoke to each other briefly before Tubbo began introducing Ranboo to the other two. 

“Tommy, Fundy, this is Ranboo. I have to leave,” Tubbo spoke quickly, as his communicator went off. 

“Hello, Ranboob. I am TommyInnit. How do you feel about arson?”  _ That wasn’t in the script, _ Ranboo thought. 

Wilbur- seeing the boy’s panic and knowing his character wasn’t developed enough for improv- shoved a yellow sweater on, and walked on set, “Hello!” 

“Wil?” Fundy asked after glancing up from his communicator for the first time. The boys followed the youngest’s gaze, seeing their boss in a yellow sweater with a blue contact in. 

“Hello, Fundy! Would you like some blue?” 

“Wilbur, what the bloody hell was that?” Tommy yelled, storming up to the man. 

“I’m not Wilbur, I’m Ghostbur! What was what?” Wilbur tilted his head slightly. 

“You just blew up L’Manberg!” Tommy screeched. 

“I did?” The man asked, “I don’t remember doing that…” 

“Wh-wh- WhAT do you MEan you don’t REMember that it JUST HAPPENED!” Tommy sputtered.  
“AND THAT’S THE END OF SEASON TWO!” Dream yelled. 

Tom and Tubbo entered their school early on Friday morning four weeks before school would end… why is the specific week important, Donnie? Oh, well thank you, reader. The week is important because it means there is only one episode left. Episode 21 aired the night before. I need to stop talking to myself… I’m just lonely… BACK ON TOPIC! 

The two were allowed to see the episode after they finished editing, since they had filmed the final episode, so Tom  _ knew _ how much pain his peers would be in and he basked in that knowledge. Tubbo, on the other hand, was trying to keep him in line. 

“No ‘It was never meant to be’ bull crap today, alright?” Tubbo scolded, seeing the smirk growing on his friend's face fall flat in a second. 

“Yes, dad!” Tom groaned. 

“I should start calling you ‘Tommy’,” Tubbo joked. 

The older of the two gently pulled his friend through the front door of the school. The moment they were through, the pair was met with glares and concerned gazes from their peers. Tubbo quickly searched the cafeteria to find Grayson and Barron, who were looking for them as well. Tubbo wasted no time in running up to the two. 

“Tom’s acting like a demon again,” Tubbo muttered. 

“Again?” Barron asked, standing up and slinging his book bag over his shoulder. 

“In season one, after ‘The Betrayal’, Tom came to school and made jokes about Eret stabbing him. He made his maths teacher cry,” Tubbo explained. The group began walking to their first class- Maths. 

“I did? I didn’t notice. He insisted we call him ‘Professor’, so I just tuned him out all year.” 

“Remind me how you passed?” Grayson asked, opening the maths door. 

“I almost didn’t,” Tom snorted. “C’mon! I wanna see Mackey before class!” 

“Ah, what he means is ‘I want to torture my favourite teacher by not telling her what’s happening in the show, but showing her that I do know what will happen’,” Tubbo mumbles, following Tom toward the room that Mackey had claimed as her own. 

“DON’T YOU DARE GIVE ME ANY HINTS!” Mackey yelled, they hadn’t even gotten to the room. 

“Hi, Mackey!” Tom smirked .

“Child, you are the living embodiment of evil… Does your mother know you’re a demon?” Mackey was walking around her classroom, picking up random things and putting them in random spots. 

“Yeah, she blames my dad. I have to agree with her based on past experience,” The teacher stopped moving and stared at him. 

“I have never heard a fifteen-year-old say ‘based on past experience’ without it being for a paper.”

“He also says infinitesimal a lot… I don’t think he knows the proper meaning of the word,” Grayson sighed, grabbing a book off Mackey’s floor and putting it on the shelf. 

“Can I organize your books Alphabetically by author’s last name? Also, I do know the proper definition. It’s really really small. I used it as really big and Wilbur corrected me. I want coffee…” Tom rambled. 

“I don’t think coffee is a good idea-” Mackey started.

“No, he doesn’t like the taste of it but it tends to calm him,” Tubbo interrupted. 

“Oh. Yes, you can organize my books. Good luck I have one-thousand in the classroom alone!” Mackey laughed, “Don’t you guys have class soon? Or in Thomas’ case, don’t you have students to torture with the subtle hints that your character might lose another canon life?” 

“Might?” Tom smirked. He gave the teacher a moment to panic before reassuring her, “I’m on one life, Mackey. They can’t lose my charming personality yet.” 

“You are very lucky we are in school right now.”

Tom laughed and followed his friends out of the classroom. They walked to their first class, cracking jokes about the SMP and laughing loudly. When they got into the classroom, the teacher glared at them. Tom laughed again, noticing the number of blood-shot eyes staring at the group. Tom decided to sit beside Tubbo, he took a deep breath before talking again. 

“Do you think we’ll ever get a Ghostinnit arc?” 

“What?” Tubbo asked, turning to face his friend. 

“Well, y’know with Wilbur’s state now. Do you think they’ll allow a Ghostinnit arc?” Tom whispered the first sentence, gradually getting louder. 

“I mean… it depends on how you die,” Tubbo muttered. 

“I would love to have a ghost arc. I mean, I would be able to mess around with people… steal their shit ‘n stuff-”

“Thomas, watch your language.” Their teacher started. “We are in school, not on set.”

Tom muttered an apology and began working on his project. They were meant to make a poster explaining their decade; Tom was assigned the 1920’s. He decided to have quotes from the Great Gatsby written in random spots, and references to crime and alcohol on the left. The right side would be filled with facts he had written down when he got his topic. Tom was so wrapped up in his work that he didn’t notice the bell ring. 

In Tom’s next class, science, he was supposed to be writing an essay on the Scientific Method. Their teacher decided not to for ‘undisclosed personal reasons’. Instead, the class watched a Bill Nye movie on Volcanoes. A simple glare was all Tom needed to know what the ‘person reasons’ were. Their class felt longer than usual, with people staring at him, whispering things, and asking him questions. By the time lunch started, he was beyond grateful. 

“Have you said it?” Grayson asked, grabbing his maths homework. 

“Not yet. I plan to say it in English!” Tom shouted.

“What is it with you and torturing Mackey?” Tubbo groaned, rubbing his head. 

“Wh- Well it’s fun! She gives great reactions!” Tom sputtered. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discord, anyone?
> 
> https://discord.gg/nsh76urdpj


End file.
